“I could tell you that bel canto operas tend to have dated plots, filled with romance-novel-ish retellings of history, and heroines who keep going mad at inopportune moments. Or I could tell you that bel canto can be intoxicating, and that just trying to find examples to play for you led me to hours of bingeing on old YouTube videos, grinning like an idiot. But I’m not sure that will help you, either. Bel canto, I realize, is a little bit like a drug: Descriptions tend to sound either clinical or loopily subjective.” – The Washington Post