Culture, shopping, etc.

[mojosmom]

Last night was opera night. We saw Sir Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage. All I can say is, I'm glad I read the study guide beforehand! The plot, if one can call it that, is a Jungian interpretation of The Magic Flute, with dollops of Wagner and The Golden Bough thrown in. Despite the confusion (you should have heard Jamie and me trying to describe the plot to our dinner companions!), it was quite interesting, and the music was excellent. The male leads were particularly good. As were the dancers and the choreography -- the second act is almost entirely ballet, so they have to be.

We got a bit silly at intermission. At one point in the first act, the Tamino-Pamina couple go, she to the heavens, he to the depths, and rather than a staircase, the set designer had created an open, tubular elevator sort of thing. This reminded one of our party of a production of Die Walkure at Bayreuth, in which the Valkyries didn't have horses, but rode inside similar tubular items, which reminded him of the pneumatic tubes used in bank drive-ups. That in turn reminded someone else of a friend of hers who had three kittens she needed to find homes for. So she and two friends drove to a bank and put the kittens in the tubes and sent them to the tellers (don't know if the tellers took them home or what). In any case, this all resulted in a few of us spontaneously bursting into song, meowing, rather than singing, The Ride of The Valkyries. Well, it was funny at the time. Guess you had to be there. ;-)

I did go to the Gerber-Hart sale today, and bought several books. Then I did some holiday shopping at the Japanese American Service Club bazaar. I found some origami ornaments for my dinner group, a shawl for one sister, and a hair clip made from kimono cloth for my other sister. I still have a few things to get, but it's nice to have a lot of it out of the way.

A Confession

A couple of days ago, I wrote: "And don't forget to return those books to the library (but try not to take anymore out)." I returned the books. But I took three more out, and bought two off the book sale rack. What was that about the best-laid plans of mice and men?

Comments

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

> meowing, rather than singing, The Ride of The Valkyries. Well, it was funny at the time. Guess you had to be there. ;-)

Wish I had been. Maybe you can make a phone post to share with us what it must have sounded like? ;-)

[jfroebe.livejournal.com]

You go to the opera alot.. :) Do you have season tickets or something? Wondering how much season tickets run.

[mojosmom.livejournal.com]

I have season tickets to both Lyric and the Chicago Opera Theater. Season tickets to Lyric vary depending on where you sit and which series you have. The full, eight-opera Saturday night series ranged this year from a high of more than $1300 for the front of the main floor to a low of under $300 for nosebleed seats. Here's a link to this season's subscription availability and cost: http://www.lyricopera.org/subscript/subscriptionSeries.aspx Next season will likely be comparable.

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

I didn't have to be there. It's funny just reading it! :)

Kittens in teller tubes? I'll confess that upsets me and, I'd imagine, would really distress the kittens. Poor things!

Hee!

[avanta7.livejournal.com]

Spouse and I often perform a little ditty we call Eine Kleine Mousemusik by Meowzart. :-)

Re: Hee!

[mojosmom.livejournal.com]

Are you familiar with Rossini's "Cat Duet" (a/k/a Duetto Buffo di due Gatti)? It's hysterical.