Last night was my introduction to our new opera house and in between bouts of hacking and coughing freely today, I'm still excited about the experience.
There are seats for 2000 but it seems even more intimate than that. The sightlines are amazing, the acoustics finely tuned, the seats comfortable and what's this? Legroom?! There may well be things that mean more but to a 6 foot tall galoot, legroom is right up there. With only 14 rows between me and the orchestra pit, everything was perfect.
Ladies, you'll be pleased to know that there are double the washroom facilities for women in the building. There were complimentary cough drops at all of the bars on each level and also plent of space to roam about, mingle and generally see and be seen.
Mozart's Così fan tutte was on offer and it was a fitting start to what hopefully is a brilliant season. Apart from a few curtain glitches that the performers managed to work to their advantage in this farcical piece, everything else was perfect. The singing was excellent on all accounts and every performer could be heard along with rather than in competition with the music as often seemed to be the case at the old venue. What a treat.
I overheard people say that parts of the performance were too slapsticky. Please, it's a comedy! Play along folks, it can't all be high art.
When I wasn't laughing at the antics of the cast, particularly Shannon Mercer as Despina and Kristina Szabo as Dorabella, I was wiping away the tears at Michael Colvin's beautiful tenor. I'm not sure of the name of his solo in Act 1 but it was such a pure and moving sound that I forgot to check the surtitles, it had to have been about love.
Even as I suffered with the worst cold ever visited upon a mortal, like the good patron I am, I waited until applause to cough, only sneezed once and refrained fully from the urge to spit on all those who dared to wear jeans to the big show. Who says I'm not charitable? Rawther.
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8 months ago
22 comments:
You are one cultured sonofabitch. And tall, too! Looks like a really cool building.
I checked out all the virtual tours, COOL!
But, they forgot to list your name amongst the million dollar donors.....was there an error?
(Wait, don't tell me you were one of the 6 anonymous donors?!!?)
I hate to admit it, but I've never ever been to the opera. My eldest has gotten to go a couple of times (with some of MizBubs' swanky family) but she's always been more highbrow than me.
"...refrained fully from the urge to spit on all those who dared to wear jeans to the big show."
I love you.
Why do people do that??? Makes me nuts.
Culture and sonsofbitches just seem right together don't they PFS? It's an odd but cool building. The main parts that matter seem to be working really well so I'm damned happy. It's also the home for the ballet now.
Decent digs huh Jin? And yes, I go all anonymous at the start and then I just end up telling everyone everything anyway. And that's how opera is like a blog.
It's an interesting experience Bubs and I think everyone should go at least once or twice whether they think they'd enjoy it or not. I sort of went by accident originally, had no opinion and someone gave me free tickets and there was no turning back.
Why would anyone pay a zillion dollars to go somewhere really nice to hear a world class orchestra and group of singers perform and show up looking like they just rolled out of bed? Since we have to look at you too, please spend 10 minutes or so cleaning up, okay people? The role of indignant snob will be played tonight by Dale. This message has been brought to you by Bloggers for a more stylish world and the letters C-h-e-l-e-n-e.
Dude! Clean out your mailbox. I just emailed you a lovely tune and you're over your limit. You need an invite to gmail which I will do next.
Sounds like a wonderful evening, Dale, even with the worst cold this side of Brian Piccolo. I last saw Cosi Fan Tutti more than twenty years ago; would have loved to have sat across the aisle from you las night. Are there pix online of the new venue?
Hi Bluez, yes, my regular email has a limited amount of space.
Check the link in the post about it Beth (new opera house). The flash presentation on the main page shows a shot of the seats in a light colour and that's an accurate photo.
Such a ditz; must stop drinking and blogging. Now checking it out. Lovely!
Oooh, sounds wonderful! I've never been to the opera. I'm sure I would find it a very moving experience. Plus, I love to sing along! We can do that at an opera, right? No? How about clapping along to the music? No?
p.s. - complimentary cough drops? Brilliant idea.
Shno problem Beth.
You should be able to Berry but I'm afraid if you tried, you might need more than a cough drop. Although in Italy, many people catcall from the balconies if things aren't going well.
awwww...muffin...
its been awhile since i strolled around the blogosphere so i didn't know you were sick.
i am so glad that little voodoo trinket i danced around last week worked. i might have had to kick some haitian ass.
What? No spritzer bottles to spray the toilet seats with anti-bacterial juice?
What a trooper! Culture on a cold. You make the opera sound cool, even when you're enjoying it while sick! Sorry to hear that you are feeling so yucky, hope you get better soon.
I'm glad someone's thinking of the Haitans Al cause I'm busy with my own stuff right now.
I'll definitely check on that next time Old Lady. Or you can just come up and see for yourself.
Zee opera, she's a very cool and mysteriouso lady, likea you Angela. Was that hackneyed and offensive enough?
oh man....I think blogger ate my comment again :( boohooo
Legroom? Free coughdrops? Good God, Canada IS perfect, isn't it?
Grand! I should accompany you sometime. To most people around here, "culture" around here means baseball, basketball, and football followed by bar-hopping and visting the occasional ethnic restaurant.
Those free cough drops helped, huh?
Ah yes, slapstick and the common practice, something that people in my field talk about all the time. For Mozart the goal was putting fannies in the seat. The more amusing, the better. He was pretty coarse at times, too.
It's been a rough couple of days feeding the hungry blogger Mel.
Yes CP but we're too polite to admit it.
Come on up Tumuli and I'll treat you to as many culture cough drops as you please!
Mozart made for some good fun X. Dell and although he did put the butts in the seats, I'm not sure he expected them to be so stuffy. Did that make sense? It did to me.
Just the right amount of hackneyed and offensive, Dale. You're cool that way.
I live to serve Anonymous.
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