The kindness of strangers: a concierge gave me his mother’s opera ticket

8 hours ago 9

At age 20, I fell head over heels in love with opera. It happened after seeing Joseph Losey’s film adaptation of Don Giovanni. Something clicked in me. I became a fervent subscriber to the Australian Opera and saw every opera I possibly could.

A few years later, I was travelling in France with my parents and discovered that Don Giovanni was being performed in Avignon while we were there, with José van Dam, who had played Leporello in the film, starring as Don Giovanni. I simply had to get a ticket to see it.

This was the 1980s, well before the time of booking tickets online. I asked the concierge of the hotel we were staying at whether it was possible to get a ticket, telling him what a fan I was. He laughed and said it had been booked out for months. Well, that was that. I was disappointed but went on with my day.

That evening, as we were about to go and get some dinner, the concierge stopped me to let me know that his mother would love for me to have her ticket. Shocked, I gratefully accepted and tried to offer him money for the ticket. But he wouldn’t hear of it.

So my parents went off to the bistro and I headed to the opera. It was such a thrilling night. The seat was in absolute prime position – there wasn’t a better view in the house, and everyone around me was exceptionally well dressed. The ticket must have been very expensive.

I was so flabbergasted by the kind gesture of that woman, whom I never met. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I can only hope I’ve done something similarly kind for someone else in my life since then.

I still remember that gesture to this day, at age 66, when I can no longer afford to go to live opera but continue to lovingly listen on vinyl. It’s pure magic.