There are Treats that we give ourselves in Life; and there are Occasions, which are, when you think about it, Reasons for Living--

Among the latter I count the train trip I took at the end of June, 1980, from Spokane to San Francisco, for the express purpose of hearing Cesare Siepi sing the title role in Don Giovanni--with a presence magisterial, and a voice (the most beautiful voice I have ever heard) like melted chocolate, or molten gold--your preference. I have, I can now say, seen the greatest performance of the greatest opera in the world.  And I was ready for it: after twenty years or so of half conscious (or half deliberate) preparation, of reading the score, and incidentally learning the libretto by heart. Still, I gotta say, hearing Don Giovanni live, amongst an audience of fellow Präher, such as you find in New York or San Francisco, who understand the Italian of the recitativi, and laugh gently but heartily at the jokes, is a delicious, heavenly comradely experience, and one that I had not expected.