First Intermissions: Twenty-One Great Operas Explored, Explained by M. Owen Lee is an eloquent, engaging celebration of opera, drawn from Father Lee’s immensely popular talks on the Metropolitan Opera’s famed Saturday radio broadcasts. Over twelve years, listeners tuned in not only for the performances but also for his captivating first intermission commentaries — and this book gathers twenty-one of his most memorable talks into one volume.
A Catholic priest, classics scholar, and opera devotee, Father Lee has a remarkable talent for making complex music and lofty librettos feel intimate, relevant, and deeply human. In First Intermissions, he explores beloved operas by Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, and Strauss, offering clear, insightful observations about their music, characters, and enduring themes.
But this is much more than opera analysis — Father Lee weaves in personal anecdotes, good humour, and reflections on life, myth, and the human spirit. He discusses Verdi’s preoccupation with family conflict, Strauss’s meditation on the passing of time, and Wagner’s quest for identity, revealing how these age-old struggles still echo in our modern world.
Written to be instantly accessible, even for readers with little opera knowledge, First Intermissions brims with wisdom, warmth, and a contagious love for the art form. Whether you’re a long-time opera lover or a curious newcomer, this book promises to enhance your appreciation and send you eagerly back to your music collection — or the nearest opera house.
A beautiful blend of music, humanity, and storytelling, this is a gem for anyone drawn to the drama of life as told through song.
