Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tosca!

Last night Meridita and I saw Tosca in HD outdoors at Lincoln Center.

It was wonderful! We had sandwiches from 'Snice and delicious wine and cookies.

I enjoyed the story, the intensity of Tosca's emotions, and the beauty of the lead singers' voices. But somehow I didn't feel as emotionally drawn is I wanted to be. Gorgeous and tragic, it left me dry-eyed.

This was a new Met production that premiered last season. The set was actually booed! I'm not sure what the audience's issue was. I didn't have a problem with the stark fortress like structure, although the design choices for the interior of the castle seemed off to me, and I couldn't figure out what era the piece was supposed to be taking place in...

Karita Mattila sang Tosca, Marcelo Alvarez was AMAZING as Cavarodossi, and George Gagnidze sang the villainous Scarpia. Joseph Colaneri was the conductor.

New Yorkers (and Tosca in HD at the MET)

"New Yorkers still pride themselves on being a town of gifted shape-shifters whose natives recognize one another by their ability to adopt a cultivated mien or a mad, mute stare, as the situation requires."
Knickerbocher: The Myth behind New York, Elizabeth Bradley

The day began with an hour-long multi-hoop session with Brece and Seth.  Then off to NeroDoro for the best gazpacho ever.

This New Yorker came in for coffee:
 


Then Diana and I met at the MET for HD screening of Tosca.  All 2,800 seats were filled and there were lots of standing room and lawn chairs along the perimeter.   Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradoss was my favorite of the production.

The evening blossomed into one of those musical NY nights.

These New Yorkers were playing a very jazzy versions of Summertime:


Then we sat down one the bench to wait for the c train and things really got interesting.  Another New Yorker hauling a laundry cart filled with odities (decorated with a bumper sticker that read "There is no sex in the city.") turned to the woman sitting next to us and said.  "I've just come from my first Opera!"

Around that time the folks down by the jazz band had started to dance.

Then the C rolled in filled with New Yorkers in excellent fashions (silver studded, gold lame, leopard print, purple batik, earrings as large as a hamburger bun), elaborate tattoos, rolling luggage, all accompanied by a sound track of live bongo players.

What a day.  What a town.