I remember when I first moved up to L.A., I was sorting and cleaning things in my new apartment, and thought I'd turn the telly on for some company. I saw that La Boheme had just started - my dad's favorite and one I'd seen as a child in L.A. with Pavarotti - so I left the channel there and went back to my chores.
Cut to - three and a half hours later, nothing further was done, as I ended up sitting, mesmerized through the whole thing, boggled that I could be brought to such emotion watching an opera on television.
Up to that point, opera was something I sometimes enjoyed, but mostly went to because my dad got tickets for the family. That performance totally turned it around for me.
The world has lost a golden treasure.
