the way of a sloth

That I am lazy should come as no surprise. This post will be brief: merely confirmation that I am still breathing. No, The Nose was not the last opera performance that I attended. Have I mentioned on this blog that I attended a delightful Rusalka in Boston way back last March? I see no evidence of that fact. Perhaps I typed up some notes about Rigoletto last April at the Met? If I did, I can't find them...

Incidentally, that Rigoletto--despite being my first experience of hearing Diana Damrau and Joseph Calleja live--was perhaps most notable in that I discovered for the first time the delight of the balcony box. No more cramped and expensive orchestra seating for these weak knees! I'll take standing room or boxes from now on.

So it was that for the December 8, 2009 performance of Le nozze di Figaro, I bought all 6 seats of a balcony box at the Met and brought several friends along, two of whom had never attended (or even listened to, as far as I can tell) an opera before. A good time was had by all. Danielle de Niese was a spunky and gorgeous Susanna. And, although I didn't take notes and my mind is somewhat damaged by alcohol, I am pretty sure that nobody sucked. I do remember that the price of a gin and tonic in the Met lobby was absolutely bloody criminal (good thing we tanked up at an Irish pub beforehand--note to self: must completely empty bladder before taking seat before a Figaro which doesn't have an Intermission until after Act II).


Next up, balcony box seats once more one week from today (February 9 for the non-mathematicians) at the Met for Carmen with (hopefully, because she has been buggy lately) Olga Borodina. Also (though tickets have not been purchased yet) I can't imagine missing the upcoming March run of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Boston Lyric Opera since I absolutely adore that opera. I just need to wrangle up (or harangue, more likely) some friends to accompany (i.e. drive) me (though my knees already hurt just thinking about the balcony seating at the Shubert). We also have Opera Boston doing Madame White Snake later this month, though it would probably be a task to get someone to go with me for that. Maybe I'll go alone, if only to see male soprano Michael Maniaci as Little Green (I can take the train, I guess).

Latest guilty pleasure: The OperaNow podcast (especially Oliver's Corner).

By the way, Diana kicked ass as Gilda!

It's killing me that I will probably be missing The Nose at the Met next month as well as The Turn of the Screw this week in Boston...

Oh yeah, and I haven't smoked for 9 days!

la sonnambula

I listened to the the live broadcast and participated in the live chat tonight, courtesy of La Cieca. Needless to say, I wasn't as disappointed as the majority of listeners seemed to be.

I enjoy an opera largely on the basis of its music; giving more credit to the composer than anyone else. I love Bellini and I love La sonnambula, so I had a good time. Yes, Pido, was a bit plodding and and slow, but at times, that worked. I just love Natalie Dessay and, if at times she missed a few notes, I forgave her for it. Juan Diego Flórez, was absolutely amazing tonight and was a pleasure to hear. Pertusi may have been a bit thin, but the beauty of the music carried the day. How could it not?

The audience, I will agree, was tepid. Although largely undemonstrative, they did resoundingly boo the production team--lead by Mary Zimmerman--when they were called onto the curtain call by Dessay at the end. Fair enough. I don't come for the production (and I couldn't see it anyway!). I enjoyed myself tonight, and that's the only thing that really matters in the end.