đ Hello to the new Opera Daily subscribers who have joined us this week. A reminder that you can check out the complete Opera Daily archives and the playlist on YouTube for more selections. If you were forwarded this email by a friend, join us by subscribing here:
Hi friends,
Have you ever had a song stuck in your head that you can't get rid of?
Think sitcom theme songs like the Cheers tune âwhere everyone knows your nameâ.
Well, itâs called an âearworm,â and it occurs after listening to a catchy piece of music until the tune is stuck in your head.
Albeit annoying at times, these are not all bad. Studies show that the more often a tune plays in a personâs head, the more accurate the memory is for the tune, and a person can remember more details about the experience or situation associated with the song.
So what causes a particular passage of music to stick in oneâs mind almost obsessively?
According to research by Kelly Jakubowski from Durham University, there are four primary triggers for earworms:
Emotions. You are more likely to get sad songs stuck in your head when you feel sad. But also happy songs when you are happy.
Memories. You may associate a particular place or action (such as brushing your teeth) with a song, causing it to return as an earworm when you next perform that action or visit it.
Recency. You are more likely to get a song stuck in your head when you have just heard it.
Low cognitive load. People are more likely to get earworms when their minds aren't occupied doing anything else.
Opera singers are often plagued with earworms of the music they learn or perform.
I donât want to ruin your day, but here is a handful of mine:
âMi par dâesser con la testaâ, Rossiniâs Il barbiere di Siviglia
đ§Â Listening Example:Â (5 minute listen):Â âMi par dâesser con la testaâ from Rossiniâs The Barber of Seville, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Maria Ewing, John Rawnsley, Claudio Desderi, and Catherine McCorde, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1981
âFlower Duetâ, LĂ©o Delibes LakmĂ©
đ§Â Listening Example: (4 minute listen): Soprano Sabine Devieilhe and Mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa singing the âFlower Duetâ from Act I of LĂ©o Delibesâ LakmĂ©, 2017. It is sung by the characters LakmĂ© and Mallika as they go to gather flowers by a river.Â
âLa donna Ăš mobileâ, Verdiâs Rigoletto
đ§Â Listening Example:Â (3 minute listen):Â Tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing âLa donna Ăš mobileâ, Verdiâs Rigoletto, 1964
âLĂ ci darem la manoâ, Mozartâs Don Giovanni
đ§Â Listening Example:Â (3 minute listen):Â Tenor Rodney Gilfry and Soprano Liliana Nikiteanu singing âLĂ ci darem la manoâ, Mozartâs Don Giovanni, Royal Alcazar Palace, Sevilla
Do you have an operatic earworm youâd like to share?
Leave it in the comments!
Thank you for reading (and listening),
Michele
PS. If you missed last weekâs selection, we featured the man who brought opera to 80 million living rooms and also chatted mid-week about why opera isnât as popular as it used to be (I would love your take if you havenât weighed in yet)
â€ïž If you enjoyed this selection, please hit the heart to like it (and share it too!)
I did learn a good trick to get the ear worms out of my head - sing the Happy Birthday song and it goes away, honestly it works for me!
Speaking of ear worms...The lovely aria at the end of Der Graf Von Luxembourg...this one : https://youtu.be/hYbjPOpMcww