Perhaps it was just chance that led Susan Nivert to invite Barb Glenn to write their first opera parody, “Coming Out Mozart” in 1982, but it was the beauty and dramatic power of classical music that kept them going back for more.
Susan has had lifelong love for classical music, both opera and instrumental. She started listening to the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts with her mother and grandmother as a toddler, drawing pictures of the characters as she listened. Her older sister, Ellen, became a professional classical pianist and married Canadian pianist Robert Silverman. While Susan studied the piano for a few years, her true calling was ballet. She began her studies at age 7 in her hometown of Scranton, PA, earned a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in NYC and danced professionally with the Boston Ballet. Susan frequently incorporated balletic movement into Derivative Duo performances.
Susan Nivert Boston Ballet © 1968
Susan always enjoyed singing and with her coloratura soprano voice, she gravitated toward opera when she studied voice as a young adult. She became familiar with much of the operatic repertoire, continuing to listen to and sing along with the Opera Broadcasts.
When Barb and Susan met, Barb had never heard an opera. She was a “word person” and listening to unintelligible lyrics with a lot of vibrato was definitely not her cup of tea! Even English language operas like Porgy and Bess had supertitles! With closer listening, though, Barb started appreciating the beautiful melodies and harmonies. The way Barb saw it, all those arias needed was new lyrics so that regular folks could relate to them. Now, there was a task she would happily take on!
After that first foray into Mozart, Barb and Susan began writing parodies on a regular basis, to perform with a local community chorus. While they occasionally spoofed pop music and standards, they always returned to opera because it offers endless opportunities for emotion, character development and plot twists. They have subscribed to the Seattle Opera since the 1980’s for “research”, but mostly for the love of the glorious music.