To demonstrate how straightforward calligraphy can help capture the meaning of words and names, I elected to change styles with every opera name in the column below when asked to do this commission for a retiring costumer for Seattle Opera. (Need opera now? Click this link for a few bars of the current feature.) Comedic or tragic, Germanic or American, the opera names each suggest stylistic treatment. This calligraphy was freely written and not retouched. Is your favorite opera listed here?