Opera = Orgasm

My cousin Will's writing loft is an installation of yellow "post- its", many of the notes go "x = something" so when I espied "Opera= Orgasm" my interest was tweaked. To see two subjects very close to my heart so intimately interlinked made my heart miss a beat. "By God he's right" I thought but not I hasten to add in a smutty way. No orgasm is a very necessary catharsis in a World dulled by its own sense of self importance. Here is an uncharted moment that occurs in many surprising ways, that means so much to us that we would risk all, that fulfils a connection to another in no other known way. Sure Woody Allen's reference to masturbation as "sex with someone you love" has my respect but ultimately it is the sacred union of the two in a sublime moment that wins hands down. So what could be the orgasm connection to Opera?

Music is a fluid art: if you could objectify it then I would choose the medium of water as the best representation. There are so many applications for water, the clear flowing stream in the dappled sunlight at Dovedale, the swollen milky jade Salzach river in spring, the glistening turquoise Aegean at dawn, the tempestuous Atlantic at Lands End or the swirling kelp forests beneath the calm  icy Pacific at Big Sur. The same obviously applies to music and yet inspiring and wonderful though those states are, they represent a stasis. Yet I believe there is a bloodthirstiness in us all that seeks a special moment. Why otherwise would so many if us enjoy murder mysteries etc? So perhaps it is that musical  moment in Wagner's Liebestod when we realise that there is untold ecstasy in a love mingled with death, that no other medium, not even sex itself, can surpass the intra-cranial glow of the opera orgasm. For me it is even more present in the act 1 orchestral interlude in Parsifal that leads to the knights' ceremony. I confess I have to ration my listening of it , although just mentioning it now brings it to life in my synapses and spontaneously releases a massive overflow of dopamine. Wow!

But I am not solely a Wagner "geek" , no there are many other opera orgasms to be had, like the going away trio in Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte" or the beginning of the Governess's exquisite aria in Britten's "The Turn of the Screw". However the truth is that these are fairly short-lived moments in long works.  Such overwhelming  ecstasy would not be possible for a whole evening. But this then surely is the point, that an  orgasmic moment has to be worked for, built up, and this is only possible through the development of true relationship. Tristan and Isolde have been through a lot to get to their peak point, the knights in Parsifal have been practising their ritual for many decades, the young women in Cosi have spent their entire childhoods locked in a fairy tale Prince Charming dream but now their lovers are tragically going to war.

So simply put, I believe that Opera works best when it explores the value of relationship and in my experience having a superb orgasm thrives on the same recipe. You can call me a saucy old devil if you will but I make no apology for being a horny  composer, I merely follow in a long line! But I also I love to build human relationships and the same goes for music through weaving a complex paradoxical tapestry of note making, themes and soundscapes. It's not easy to compose  opera that makes a truly  special experience for the audience.  Of late George Benjamin's "Written on Skin" is one of the rare successes I have enjoyed. To get to a musical orgasm, a composer must work very hard and be prepared to constantly throw away weaker material, this requires a great deal of inner analysis and sometimes a tussle with "The dark night of the soul".  The outcome of the Opera will ultimately rely on her relationship to herself and others . Dare I say it, a good sex life will be a great help in this quest. Wordy stuff I hear you say, so for now it's back to "head down" with my new opera and finding some precious time between the sheets!