If you've only recently heard about Massenet's little-known operatic gem Thérèse for the first time, chances are you will probably hear about it with some frequency afterwards. The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, which ensures that our pattern-searching brains repeatedly encounter newly learned information such as new words or, in this case, new operas, was hard at work this weekend when baritone Aaron Ball (Morel in Thérèse) happened across an original world premiere recording of the opera on vinyl in a San Fernando Valley record shop. To add to Mr. Ball's surprise, it was shelved next to another underproduced Massenet opera, La Naverraise. Synchronicity? Destiny? Mere coincidence? You decide.
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| Baritone Aaron Ball with his Massenet finds |
