Behold a diva, y’all
In February, 1984 Memphis Culture critic Edwin Howard penned a column about a promising young voice student who’d just won the Metropolitan Opera’s Mid-South regional opera competition. “It’s a good thing Kallen Esperian is taking geography at Memphis State University this semester,” Howard wrote in the pages of Mid-South Business. “Because this lovely, young, brunette mezzo-soprano is going places.”
Love Changes Everything: Opera Memphis Presents Kallen Esperian in Concert
Howard wasn’t just whistling “Dixie.” Two years down the road Esperian was singing in front of motion picture cameras in China with the immensely successful Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti.
Love Changes Everything: Opera Memphis Presents Kallen Esperian in Concert (5)
Esperian, who is appearing in Love Changes Everything, a one night only concert produced by Opera Memphis, specialized in Italian classics and went on to perform alongside many of the leading lights of modern opera including Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. If you’re keeping score that’s all three of The Three Tenors.
Love Changes Everything: Opera Memphis Presents Kallen Esperian in Concert (2)
Love Changes Everything is an evening of “opera’s greatest hits,” featuring the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and “special guests.” Cocktails and snacks will be served at a post concert reception for ticket holders who can also pick up an Esperian-autographed concert poster.
Love Changes Everything: Opera Memphis Presents Kallen Esperian in Concert (3)
While a concert showcasing “Opera’s greatest hits” sounds entirely delightful, no Intermission Impossible post about Esperian is complete without some mention of her more musically adventurous side. Her buttery soprano was the cherry on top of Lord T & Eloise’s Aristocrunk CD.
Love Changes Everything: Opera Memphis Presents Kallen Esperian in Concert (4)
But the most fun recording in the history of time? It’s got to be Esperian’s take on a Led Zeppelin classic. Click that link and discover the meaning of true happiness.
