Subtexts A book club discusses A Vision of Voices: John Crosby and the Santa Fe Opera

Curtains up: A Vision of Voices

It is difficult to imagine driving north on Highway 84/285 and not seeing the Santa Fe Opera rise out of a vista to the left. This structure — and Santa Fe’s summer opera season, the flagship attraction of the arts scene — exist because of the vision of its founder and first conductor, John Crosby. Crosby, who was known to be fiercely smart, sometimes temperamental, and fastidious about what he wanted from his brainchild, is captured in all his complexity in Craig A. Smith’s 2015 biography, A Vision of Voices: John Crosby and the Santa Fe Opera (University of New Mexico Press). Painting in fluid and inviting prose, Smith — who died in 2017 — captures Crosby’s personality and aesthetics, as well as the enigmatic hues of the New Mexico landscape, while diving deep into the ins and outs of founding and running an opera festival in the desert Southwest. He also covers Crosby’s childhood in succinct yet evocative passages such as this one, describing Crosby’s adolescent year at the Los Alamos Ranch School in 1940-1941: “John did well physically ... he became stronger, more mentally focused, and more confident. His interest in the arts was fostered as well . ... Young faculty member Fermor Church handled the school’s annual Gilbert and Sullivan productions, and during that school year, John helped assiduously. He did not go back to New York during the spring recess but helped build the scenery, and, after vacation, mount the production.”

— Jennifer Levin

The Vivace Series, a book club started by the Santa Fe Opera Guild, hosts a discussion about

A Vision of Voices at 6:15 p.m. Monday, July 9, at Collected Works Bookstore (202 Galisteo St., 505-988-4226). Veronica Reed leads the discussion; attendees are encouraged to read the book ahead of time, but it is not required. Cost is $5 (free for Opera Guild members).