Our seats were in the upper most tier. It did offer a full view of the orchestra. If we ever sit up there again, I will have to invest in some opera glasses. Perhaps that way I will be able to tell who is singing.
It was fascinating to sit in on a dress rehearsal.
After the first act they announced a 30-minute intermission. Off we trotted down the 100 staircases (the nice part is that the walls and handrail are all deep red velvet!) only to find the superb coffee and snack bar closed. Unfortunately, we did not get the memo that all of those people with sandwiches wrapped in tin foil got.
I guess we were doing that German thing, getting our intermission exercise. Up we went back up to the rafters.
Another announcement: the guy playing Hoffmann had a cold and would be replaced by his understudy. 1. Wow, that’s what he sounds like WITH a cold!? 2. What a wonderful way to compare two fantastic singers. The first Hoffmann had a deep resonant voice that projected well. The second Hoffmann reminded me of Bing Crosby, a crooner with excellent diction.
During the second intermission Diana and I tried out the view from an empty box seat. We were very interested to see all the note-taking tables and computers set up on the orchestra level. I also really enjoyed listening to Conductor James Levine give orchestra notes after the performance.
The highlight for me was the scene in the brothel (third act in this production). The costumes and set were like my artwork moving around to fabulous music. Big elaborate dresses, hanging chandeliers -- all in tones of deep red.
I have some ideas!
Meridita
P.S. There were some wonderfully racy -- hm, dare I even call them costumes? These girls would have fit right in at Burlesque by the Beach!
No comments:
Post a Comment