It’s time for Tuesday Tales!
Today we have an excerpt from The Christmas Tenor, Laurel Holidays #3.
Please do bear in mind that these snippets are unedited so please be kind if you find any mistakes.
This story may have gay erotic scenes, strong social issues addressed and mature language. If those things offend now is the time to move onto another Tuesday Tales blog. Thanks for stopping by!
That would be no small feat but if anyone could turn the world on its ear I assumed it would be Julian Baez. He certainly had a “take no prisoners” attitude. And he was driven. I’d picked that up just from the short snippets of conversation around a packed table this evening. He was much like me at that age. Full of fire and ready to take on the whole damn world. And take it on I had. Still was if I were being honest. Being gay back in the 80’s was not like it was now. In a way I envied the queer youth of today.
The article then went on to explain a bit about the different tenors such as a leggero tenor, a lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, and several more. What the difference was between them I hadn’t a clue. Julian said that he was a lyric tenor much like Enrico Caruso, Placido Domingo, and José Carreras. Those three names I did recognize. Nicholas Phan, Julian was quick to point out, was also a lyric tenor. I took a break from reading to seek out videos of Julian online. I found a performance from a competition in Rio de Janeiro over the summer. It was a simple set up, a young Asian woman on the piano and Julian standing beside the Steinway in a black suit with a pink shirt. His hair was combed back, held in place with a single gold barrette on each side that caught the overhead lights when he moved his head.
He sang an upbeat song about sitting in the opera house that shifted to a rather sad song that pulled at emotions deep within me. His voice was magnificent, pure and strong and filled with feeling. How long I lay there, head bolstered on a thick backrest cushion, listening to Julian sing song after song as the competition narrowed and narrowed I didn’t know. In the end, he won after a performance of “Anywhere in the World Yankee Wanderer” that nearly made me weep at the sheer beauty of his voice.
Excellent scene. Well done.
Music can move us so deeply. Well done.
How lovely! And I don’t know the difference between those types of tenors either. Never even heard of them, so thank you – I learned something new today. Love his observation about how much easier it is to be gay today than it was in the 80’s. Damn right it is.
I love the insight into his character and the background on Julian. I can’t wait to read more about these two.
Nice snippet!