Thursday, August 21, 2008

opera day in my office

For a few seasons now, the Metropolitan Opera has been broadcasting some of their performances live in HD to movie theaters across the country. Apparently it's been a huge success, so they're up to 11 shows this year. Here's the schedule - tickets go on sale Friday. Lots of great stuff, including my all-time favorite opera, Rossini's Cenerentola. (It's Cinderella, and the impression it made on me at the age of six has never faded.)

I've never been to any of these broadcasts, but Aunt Towwas is a huge fan. (My parents saw one this winter and liked it, too.) The last time I checked, the closest place to see them was in Virginia, but now there's a theater in D.C., too, so I hope I can make it to some of the 2008-09 season!

In other opera news, today I got the message about the Washington Opera's "Generation O" - age 35 and under - discount subscriptions, so I signed up for Carmen, Peter Grimes, and Siegfried. I'm taking S.Ball to Carmen - it'll be her first opera! - and seeing the other two alone, because I couldn't think of anyone under 35 who I could drag with me, even for the low-low price of $50 a show. *I'm* only going to those two because I think they'll be good for me. And I really hope they don't fall during a miserable time at work the way Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra did earlier this summer at the Shakespeare Theatre, 'cause I don't think I can take Peter Grimes on top of any other stress.

She Gre tells me I must listen to this before going to see Siegfried - it's an episode of Radio Lab about the Ring Cycle. Seriously, I'll be looking for any Ring-related homework I can get, 'cause Wagner is *tough*.

2 comments:

Yappa said...

Hey cuz -

Thanks for the link. I'll listen. I've read a ton of stuff on the Ring Cycle, and I've seen it three times, and I'm still bemused, bewitched and bewildered. My next viewing is next April at the Met, and I plan to do a lot more research before then. Especially about the liet motifs.

I never miss the Met in HD. The best thing is to go to the live performance and then the repeat they do a couple of weeks later. What luxury to see the same performance twice - I find the second time I don't need the subtitles and I pick up all sorts of things I missed the first time around.

Now there's a second group that's starting an opera-in-the-cinema series focussing on European companies, notably from Covent Garden and the Teatro Royal in Madrid. It's also a real treat.

towwas said...

Hey, thanks for the advice, cousin! I don't know if I'm committed enough to see anything twice...but I do want to go to some of them. And I'm excited about seeing Siegfried live. The only Wagner I've ever seen was a dress rehearsal of the Flying Dutchman in high school, but I *loved* it.