What do I love about opera?
Its glorious music, high drama andgorgeous voices.
An operatic voice is like no other.
I was a super once an extra inDie Fledermaus,and was seated within three feet ofPlacido Domingo.
I had never heard a voice of that beauty so close up.
It felt as if an electric shock were running through me.
I think Mozart’s operasThe Marriage of FigaroandDon Giovanniare the two most perfect ever written.
The sextet inThe Marriageis the most hilarious piece in all of opera .
One day I’ll sayThe Marriageis my favorite opera.
The next day, theDon.
In 2015, an opera opened about me and Justice Antonin Scalia.
The composer, Derrick Wang, has degrees in music from Harvard and Yale.
He uses lines from opinions, speeches and articles we’ve written.
How do you get to know opera?
For me, it began when I was 11, in 1944.
My aunt took me to a high school inBrooklynfor a condensed version ofLa Gioconda.
In high school I started attending the New York City Opera.
To save money, I’d go to dress rehearsals.
Or I’d buy tickets for seats in the last row of the top balcony.
After she had heard it maybe four or five times, we read the libretto together.
Then my husband and I took her to a performance.
By then, she knew most of the lyrics by heart.
She was 8 years old.
My son’s first exposure wasAida.
I went to four or five last year.
Most of the time, even when I go to sleep, I’m thinking about legal problems.
But when I go to the opera, I’m just lost in it.
And I don’t think about any legal brief.
As told to Frederick Allen
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 82, is an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
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