Jim Tobin writes: >Also, a listener can hear--in a detached way--expressions of feeling as >an element of music without necessarily sharing or feeling that kind of >emotion him/herself, just as, in fact, a composer might write expressions >of feeling that he/she was not necessarily experiencing at the time, but >which had been experienced or observed in others at another time. Thus, >finally, individuals or whole audiences can listen to works like this >without embarrassment. This approach applies in spades to opera, (particularly C19th opera) where many of the emotions expressed strike us as melodramatic in the extreme - and yet the music lends them authenticity. Which brings me to a paradox: I do find Tchaikovsky's music somewhat "frenzied" at times (he is not a favorite of mine), but I am bowled over by his operas - notably Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades. They seem to me more restrained than some of his other music, and wonderfully coherent as drama. Julia Werthimer <[log in to unmask]> California, USA