Conductor Kazushi Ono still remembers the first opera he attended, at the age of 10.
¡°My treasured ticket with its sophisticated designs got ruined,¡± Ono says, recalling how miserable he felt when the ticket stub was torn at the entrance. Of course, this is normal procedure, but the ¡°heartbreaking incident¡± made the performance all the more tragic. The opera was Giuseppe Verdi¡¯s ¡°La Traviata,¡± performed by the Fujiwara Opera at Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Public Hall in 1971.
¡°I remember that the very sad melodies prior to the first act and the third act were the same,¡± Ono says of the performance.
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