Submitted by DJ Leslie, Jul 30, 2008 13:43

My first opera ever was Madama Butterfly at Indiana University in 1981, and I was enchanted even though it was Puccini. The music, costumes, sets, acting, and singing in English. At least in those days, the opera program at the IU School of Music performed everything in English and put a high premium on diction; I hope they still do. This is to say that I agree with almost everything Mr. McWhorter has written, except that I'd rather not have supertitles for operas sung in English. Why? I would still spend 1/8 of my time reading them. Several years ago in Norway I was watching an American movie with Norwegian subtitles, and darn it if I didn't keep trying to read the subtitles, even though I don't read Norwegian and understood the dialogue perfectly well.

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