A Diva and A Divo

—Cathy Ritchie

Diary of a Redneck Opera Zinger

by Jay Hunter Morris (Opera Lively Press, 2013-2018)

The Metropolitan Opera Murders

by Helen Traubel (Library of Congress/Poisoned Pen, 1951, reissued 2022)

And now for something totally different: two opera-familiar names in the unfamiliar guise of author--but with delightful results.

Whoever encouraged Paris, Texas’ favorite son (and tenor!) Jay Hunter Morris to intermittently chronicle his days in diary format deserves a huge rounds of thanks. Without that nudge, chances are we never would have had Morris' own account from 2012--when, with only a few days notice, the young understudy triumphed in the role of Siegfried in the new Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner’s Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage. 

Morris’s entertaining, just-in-the-nick-of-time saga also is included in the fine documentary Wagner’s Dream, directed by Susan Froemke. Morris’s clutch appearance may arguably have been his finest hour as a singer, but his career has been consistently stellar, thanks to the legendary tenor roles he has performed around the world, including Captain Ahab in Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick, premiered by The Dallas Opera in 2010.

But Morris is ever so much more than a heroic onstage figure: he is undeniably a good ol’ Texas boy in every way, and his utterly hilarious scattershot chronicle, spanning five years of his life during the 2010s, was one of the most delightful things I’ve read in ages. It’s a riot.

Morris may be a star in a rarefied field, but he also so loves his chicken fried steak and taters, shopping at Walmart and Walgreens, driving his truck, and playing flag football. All this and more are described matter-of-factly in a friendly authorial voice that fits readers’ eyes and ears like velvet. Morris’ experiences and good-natured observations are out-loud laughable, but he fittingly tempers the humor with moments of gratitude for his wife and son, and for his unexpected career. Performing roles like Siegfried (or “Ziggy,” as he prefers to call him) fulfills him no end, but it’s all part of a life he embraces with enthusiasm and a rollicking sense of “golly, what fun” on every page.

Morris’ final words include: “I wish this for my boy….Someday I hope you get to face something so much bigger than you, something way too hard, way too scary, and I hope you get to look your fear in the face and stand your ground. Because it feels so good. No matter what anybody else says or thinks, I know I did my best…”

Indeed you did, Jay Hunter Morris.

Helen Traubel (1899-1972) was one of the more popular and accomplished mid-20th-century American soprano, specializing in the challenging Wagnerian roles while simultaneously embracing “popular” music on Broadway and in film. But Traubel also was a murder mystery aficionado: in 1951, she contributed The Metropolitan Opera Murders to her favorite genre. The Library of Congress has recently resurrected the novel, adding the title to its new “Crime Classics” imprint.

Leslie S. Klinger offers a fine introduction to the text, and in footnotes throughout helpfully “translates” every potentially obscure reference for the benefit of 2022 readers, including the names of famous opera singers and characters, plus historical background.

The novel’s action occurs at the Met itself itself: the substitute prompter at a performance of Wagner’s Die Walkure is apparently poisoned. Solving the crime will entangle Detective Lieutenant “Sam Quentin” (his name an intentional Traubel touch) with a plethora of opera divas and divos, rich donor families, echoes of previous crimes, young romance, and all the standard staples of crime fiction. But I found it briskly written, with dialogue that held my attention. Rumor has it that Traubel received some ghost-writerly assistance with this project; maybe so, but I still like to believe readers are treated to her own keen character/setting descriptions and touches of sly humor throughout.

Decades apart, opera stars Morris and Traubel both spread their artistic wings, and we readers are the richer for it.