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A night at the opera
Nov. 24th, 2004 03:23 amI'm no longer an opera virgin. Tonight, my mom and I saw Tosca at the San Jose Opera.
First, we had dinner at Eulipia. The food was terrific. The waiter was a character. My mom and I wound up ordering the same thing. I ordered after her, so I basically said "Me too." The waiter said, "Did anyone tell you that you're easy?" (Pause.) "But not cheap." Kind of amusing in context.
I absolutely love the theater in which the San Jose Opera performs. It's an old, opulent movie theater that was just renovated. It must be one of the smallest opera venues anywhere. We were sitting at the top row of the mezzanine, and we had no problem with hearing or seeing what was going on.
I'm still not quite sure what to make of the opera. I already knew what was going to happen, so I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat. Opera audiences applaud anything and everything. (They applaud at the beginning of the act, the end of the act, and selected arias in between, and (of course) during the curtain calls at the end. At the beginning of the third act, the curtain got stuck and went partially up, and down, and partially up again. Finally they got the curtain to go all the way up--and the curtain duly got applause -;)) I suppose that it shows a generous spirit, but I found it distracting. And whenever I started to get into the opera, it seemed that we had another intermission. Whatever opera is about, it isn't about getting into the story.
The principals had terrific voices. (However, I think that sopranos sing too damn high (says the alto). Makes my throat hurt just thinking about it-;)) The guy who played Cavaradossi was especially good.
The people in the audience were incredibly nice and polite. No "out of my way, I'm in a hurry and important" stuff. During one intermission, a woman was walking slowly with a cane, and no one pushed past her, but slowed down to match her pace instead.
Overall, I enjoyed the opera, but am not entirely sure what to make of the experience. I do want to see Carmen in February. (And hey, the title character in Carmen is a mezzo-soprano, so I can steal arias for my voice lessons.)
In other news, Freecycle works well. The computer desk that I bought requires more room than I realized, so I need to get rid of a rolling cart and two-drawer filing cabinet in a hurry. I listed them on Freecycle, and people are coming to pick them up tomorrow.
First, we had dinner at Eulipia. The food was terrific. The waiter was a character. My mom and I wound up ordering the same thing. I ordered after her, so I basically said "Me too." The waiter said, "Did anyone tell you that you're easy?" (Pause.) "But not cheap." Kind of amusing in context.
I absolutely love the theater in which the San Jose Opera performs. It's an old, opulent movie theater that was just renovated. It must be one of the smallest opera venues anywhere. We were sitting at the top row of the mezzanine, and we had no problem with hearing or seeing what was going on.
I'm still not quite sure what to make of the opera. I already knew what was going to happen, so I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat. Opera audiences applaud anything and everything. (They applaud at the beginning of the act, the end of the act, and selected arias in between, and (of course) during the curtain calls at the end. At the beginning of the third act, the curtain got stuck and went partially up, and down, and partially up again. Finally they got the curtain to go all the way up--and the curtain duly got applause -;)) I suppose that it shows a generous spirit, but I found it distracting. And whenever I started to get into the opera, it seemed that we had another intermission. Whatever opera is about, it isn't about getting into the story.
The principals had terrific voices. (However, I think that sopranos sing too damn high (says the alto). Makes my throat hurt just thinking about it-;)) The guy who played Cavaradossi was especially good.
The people in the audience were incredibly nice and polite. No "out of my way, I'm in a hurry and important" stuff. During one intermission, a woman was walking slowly with a cane, and no one pushed past her, but slowed down to match her pace instead.
Overall, I enjoyed the opera, but am not entirely sure what to make of the experience. I do want to see Carmen in February. (And hey, the title character in Carmen is a mezzo-soprano, so I can steal arias for my voice lessons.)
In other news, Freecycle works well. The computer desk that I bought requires more room than I realized, so I need to get rid of a rolling cart and two-drawer filing cabinet in a hurry. I listed them on Freecycle, and people are coming to pick them up tomorrow.
