On Art, Sex, and Opera

On Art, Sex, and Opera

A memoir, manual, and novel look at history, relationships, and personal drive.

 

 

 

Magic Flute by Patricia Minger (She Writes Press, 2016, $16.95)

The main character of this novel, Liz Morgan, is a superb flutist whose solo playing from the orchestra pit of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute “wove enchantment around the singers” and concluded with thunderous applause. She is filled with dreams of playing in a world-renowned orchestra and doesn’t take kindly to her boyfriend’s ribbing about her more likely path toward band teaching in suburbia. A few pages later, she is fighting for her life after a car crash, bleeding with a career-ending left arm injury followed by multiple surgeries. The novel follows the determined young woman, full of pluck and ambition, on a course of learning to use her voice in the competitive world of opera. Minger grew up in Oakland.

 

Published online on Jan. 4, 2017 at 8:00 a.m.