I went with my voice teacher to see a simulcast opera at a nearby movie theater last night. It was Rossini's Armida; a total delight. Renee Fleming sang the lead, and she was amazing. The wonderful thing about opera is it's goofiness. The sublime and the ridiculous yoked together. Well, probably they always are, but opera makes it obvious. There are all those people trying to control other people's emotions and actions, love taken to the extreme, power lusted after with such force it becomes its own destruction. It's us writ large, and we can see our foibles and longings with a detachment that reminds us we are human, and therefore engaged in a tricky enterprise.
The costumes of the demons in this production had golden, tigerish tights and long tails a la Avatar. Then they had kind of Miraclesuits around their middles. Surpassingly strange and delightful, if utterly absurd. The soldiers had Dr. Zhivago coats and Fleming was trussed up a creamy white coat cum jelaba with deep eggplant in inserts in her first costume and a corset and a million ruffles, all eggplant, in her second. She had on a curly red wig, and was more gorgeous than any earthly being.
And the great thing is, I could eat my bucket of popcorn and soda as I watched. AND the restrooms were less crowded. No, it's not the same as live opera, but it's fun.
I will be mimicking the operatic voice for days, until the illusion wears off completely. But anything that reminds me the world is bigger than our soap opera troubles is grounding. Perspective is always a good idea.
I sent this blog of the Opera simulcast to my dad and his wife. They like opera, too. The theater version sounds great from a convenience point of view,
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