A killer opera

Hullo Gabriel

I am writing a book about the world of opera. It’s going to be a crime novel in which the lead character is a rehearsal pianist by day but a private detective by night. Of course these two parts of him overlap. So there will be intrigue over rehearsals and castings, with a beautiful, young understudy being asked to take over at the last minute, as the large, plain, but vocally miraculous, lead falls ill with a mysterious illness that kills her. I know this all sounds a bit histrionic but this is opera after all! So my more serious question is this: do you think someone would be prepared to kill for a role or would it be more realistic that the intention was to hurt not eliminate the soprano? And could a passionate young artist be driven to this?

Adil

My dear Adil

The world you’ve created just in those few sentences is already fabulous, and like an opera score already: dramatic, over the top and just a little bit camp!  I must say I like the idea of the detective character being a rehearsal pianist because this will give him a uniquely “watchful” eye and many opportunities to take in the egos and the tantrums and the quirks of all your characters. So bravo to that.

Could a passionate young artist be driven to murder? I do think it’s possible but I’m more inclined to think that the acts of your understudy character were a result of a heated and impulsive moment, which would fit the so-called artistic temperament more closely. If she planned and plotted the mystery illness carefully and over a long time then this sounds more like the actions of an antisocial person, and there would have been signs in her life from a young age that she was this kind of person, a psychopath.

I recently saw a wonderful documentary called “The Audition” about young opera singers vying to win a prize from The Met in New York. They have been auditioning all across the country and now it’s the last group we get to see and hear. We get a bit of their back stories too and this makes us start to root for our favourites. What really stood out for me was their drive and dedication and love of their art, and their willingness to make really serious sacrifices. Would they kill? Well one chap was definitely quite narcissistic but when did having a big ego disqualify you from being an opera star? More seriously, the sense I got was that they were just too focused on their own talent and careers, and finding the ways to connect with the emotions of the songs they were singing, to actually be cold blooded killers!

But hey, it’s the exceptions, the outliers, that make the rule, so I would say go for it. I see a series in this!

All the best

Gabriel

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