Tangled Up In Blog

A Night at the Opera

Last night Andy and I attended our first ever opera. We saw "The Magic Flute" or Die Zauberflote for those who speak German. We saw it at Lincoln Center which was really nice. The interior was covered in red velvet with huge, star shaped chandeliers. Exactly what I would picture an opera house to look like. We sat in the "Family Circle" also known as the cheap seats, but the view was still really nice and I didn't feel like we were overly far away. We went with Chuck, Christina, Cassie and Martin and our tickets were divided into groups of 3, 2, and 1. It was Martin's idea that we draw tickets randomly so Cassie and I ended up in the 2 seats together. Right after the lights went down the two women in front of us were still whispering a little so the woman at the end of our row said very loudly "Why don't you shut up!" Not exactly what I expected from the opera crowd. For the record one of the whispering ladies later pulled about a gigantic fruit pastry from her purse and ate it at intermission. The issue of the cheap seats also reared its head later when Christina's hat was stolen...you really have to be careful at the opera these days.

The opera itself was entertaining. There were some funny parts which I didn't really expect. Apparently "The Magic Flute" is a good opera to see for first time opera goers. The storyline is very fantastical, which lent itself to a lot of really cool costumes and an interesting set. I didn't really care for the storyline which seemed very disjointed. I don't know if this applies to operas in general as a result of the constraints of the medium but it made it hard to follow at times. Even with the subtitles, if I had not read the synopsis in advance I think I would have been lost.

Andy and I both agreed that we definitely want to go back, but to see a tragedy instead. I think something more dramatic would come across better. Maybe that's just my stereotypes about the opera, but I think I would enjoy that more.

Back to the sledding...here's a slideshow Martin put together with all of the pictures and some cool music. I think you have to download the file titled Sled4. Enjoy!

Labels: concert

posted by carolyn @ 3:17 PM