The Met

 I had a good time at The Metropolitan Opera last night (on TV) watching Falstaff by Verdi. A nice change from my usual let's-kill-or-be-killed programs. 

John Adams and his Girls

I love living in a city with an opera house, even if we no longer go to many
extravaganzas. In fact it has probably been years and years ~ decades?
But last night Carlini and I went to the world premiere of Girls of the
Golden West and we had a glorious time. First dinner in the downstairs
cafe and then to our overpriced balcony seats. We paid way too much for
the tickets (I learned a lesson here ~ go to the ticket window) and the
buffet dinner was $45, imagine. But as we all learn as we chug through
life, sometimes it is just more than acceptable to splurge.

This new opera had a bad review, by the way, but we both enjoyed all
the drama and since it was in English, we pretty much knew what was
going on. Beautiful voices, no memorable tunes. A huge cast. Oh,
first act was 78 minutes, 25 minute intermission, 93 minute second
act and that is a l-o-n-g time to sit in tiny seats. Home late.

Funniest scene: all of us out in front with our phones after the opera. Is
that my Lyft? It's a silver Nissan. No that's a Toyota. Driver calls to
say he is blinking his lights, all drivers are blinking their lights. Poor
security guard trying to help. Modern life after the glamour of the
old and posh opera house.

Observation ~ lots of young people at the opera! Hooray. Also people
still dress with care. I only saw one or two jean-clad opera goers, but
lots of long dresses and sparkle. Men in ties. What? Well, then I think,
at these prices...

a little night magic

Husbando purchased two cheapo rush tickets yesterday morning for
Row O at the opera last night. $30 each ~ sweet. This is a silly little
romantic opera, but beautiful, and not one long drawn-out death
scene. There is a young tenor named Ramon Vargas who was Nemorino,
a sort of dufus guy-in-love, and he has the most spectacular voice.
The Elixir of Love turns out to be cheap wine, I hope that doesn't
ruin the complicated plot for anyone. Although I know way too little
about opera, this was a delightful evening for both of us, proving
once again that opera should be for everyone.

patricians vs. plebians

We used to be season ticket holders at the SF Opera, but of course that
is way too expensive now. One of our goals for this year was to take
advantage of the "rush" specials early, before they disappear. So we got
all dressed up as senior citizens (we passed!) and stood in line yesterday
morning for about an hour. We scored two orchestra seats ($200 each
value) for $30 each and had a wonderful, wonderful evening with Simon
the Buccaneer and his daughter. I appreciate the overhead supertitles
in English, the lavish gowns and high emotion, while Husbando just
plain adores all the music, plus the free parking on Van Ness (south
of Market) and lots of people-watching with "oooooh, did you see
THAT?" to keep us engaged and happy for 3 delightful hours. One of
the longest death scenes in all of opera, and that says a lot, doesn't it?