Okay, Mike. I love an artistic challenge. Just for fun, a quick lame attempt follows.
If opera is like the stock market, then the few Stars that are engaged to sing in the world's greatest theaters before the other 7000 working singers (read - stocks) would be our Operatic Gorillas. I will call them Stars . Voices with attitude, color, beauty, natural talent and the music business awards them with a much higher price to seat ratio because they dominate the world's stages and are the standard on which all others are based. Why pay $200 a seat to see and hear Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Thomas Hampson, Bryn Terfel, Cecilia Bartoli, James Morris, Vladimir Chernov, Kathleen Battle, Dawn Upshaw, Samuel Ramey, Hei-Kyung Hong, Cathy Malfitano, Debbie Voight, or Jesse Norman (the last two I threw in for their operatic 'girth')? Why not pay $50 and hear some of the other 7000 singers? After all, they have lower price to seat ratios? The tux rental alone was $100. The babysitter is another $30 - $35. The dinner with wine was about $100. After all of that expense, don't you want to hear the Gorillas, I mean the true Stars sing?
Why pay a high PE or PS for Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Qualcomm, Brocade, Gemstar, Rambus, RealNetworks, Siebel, i2 and a small number of other possible Gorillas, chasm crossing soloists and tornado participants? Why not load up the portfolio with any of the other thousands of stocks with PE's around 8 to 17 and price to books around 1.5? I mean, these Stars are going to out sing the other working singers, right? The portfolio cost a little bit to set up - sure. The Stars have got to be in there if you are really 'in the know'. If you really are going to hear opera right, what would your friends think if they heard you spent all of that money to hear 3COM sing rather than Cisco? What do you think they would say if you informed them that you heard CPQ, AMD, IOM and PSFT sing a three hour opera at the MET instead of QCOM, MSFT, INTC, SEBL and RMBS? Talk about a good three hour nap..... Oh, those opera fans can be so snooty - can't they?
We know that Oh Danny Boy Niles took a pot shot at one of the tenor Stars of the Opera today - Intel (not to mention dishing the young bass, Mr. Rambus). Gee, the last time this so called operatic villain critic panned our beloved tenor Star Intel, the shares went from 50 to 89. Is Danny Boy a true operatic villain that nobody claps for at the end of evening? If so, the typical operatic villain's stance is one foot forward with knees slightly flexed. This, in the opera business, is commonly called the 'dick forward' stance because the villain is always trying to 'penetrate' the action. Is he aware that Intel can do a lot more than just sing Italian opera? Hey, why be down on a singer who has slowly and quietly built up their reputation as a mammoth investor in the Internet? Remember, it's the Stars that command the highest price to seat ratios. They dominate the stage, out sing the villains and continue to win contract after contract after contract in the world's most prestigious theaters, concert halls and recording studios. Sure, there are 7000 other singers and thousands of other stocks we could invest our money and time in hearing. However, the Stars and the Gorillas are where the real vocal acrobatics and stunning performances come from on a consistent basis. Maybe their agents make an occasional off the cuff remark that their prices are too high and absurd, but that doesn't keep the house from being full once the curtain goes up. When Pavarotti and Microsoft launch into that stunning duet about avenging the death of their mother, don't you want to be there to hear the fireworks? People have been looking for the 'next Pavarotti' and the next 'Microsoft' for the past 13 years. Instead, they could have been enjoying the performance that both of these boys have been giving all that time.
BB
P.S. - Operas can be dramatic and with the Naz down over 60 at this moment - when will that fat lady start to warm up her voice? Seat prices for the Stars are starting to look like one might be able to splurge at the dinner before the performance and get that $80 bottle of wine rather than the $30 bottle. Tra-la-la-le-ra..... |
