Not all operatic romance takes place on the stage
There is a convenience store close by where I live. It is owned and run by a nice gentleman who is always cheerful and welcoming when I walk in - never just a nod, always a "How nice to see you again!" I walked in the other day and some Mozart was playing on the radio. I soon realised he had the radio tuned to KQAC our excellent local all-classical station. So we chatted about music in general for a few moments before he happened to mention his love of opera. He was obviously delighted to discover that one of his customers shares that love. He told me that both he and his wife grew up in opera-loving households, so much so that his wife is named Thaïs after the heroine in Massenet's eponymously-named opera. Yes, he assured me, she does retain the diacritic over the letter 'i'. He has numerous recordings of this opera, and not just because of the family association, but because he and his wife both love that particular opera so much. "Did you know that the Metropolitan Opera transmits..." Before I could complete my question he completed it for me "...operas to movie theaters? Oh, yes. And of course when they showed Thaïs recently we just had to go. It was when there was all that snow in Portland and it took us hours to get to the theater but we were still in time for the show, It was wonderful! And when the violinist began to play..." Now it was my turn to complete the sentence "...the Méditation in Act 2?" "Yes! It was so beautiful that when it ended I wanted to stand and cheer. And I am not ashamed to admit that I wept. I just kept thinking of my wonderful wife and how lucky I am to have been married to her for almost fifty years. And how gorgeous that piece of music is, and what an amazing violinist had played it." And as he stood behind the counter of his store selling me a bottle of chilled pinot grigiot, once more the tears welled in his eyes. I grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and yelled into his face "Pull yourself together, man. It's just music!" Well, all right, I didn't. I patted his shoulder and blinked away my own tears.

When one is witness to the power of love meeting the power of opera, crying almost always happens. That's okay. Actually, it's almost required.

And speaking of HD transmissions from the Met
Aida was shown on Saturday. I am almost lost for words. Only almost. Incongruent, a complete failure of ensemble, inappropriate, inane and a triumph of bad taste over elegance and substance spring first to mind. What's that you say? Did I really hate the production that much? Oh, no, gentle readers, I liked the production really quite a lot. I was talking about Renée Fleming, our host for the day. She came out to introduce the opera wearing a jacket and skirt. Both were red in colour - but two different reds that in no known fashion universe were meant to be worn together. Her shade of lipstick rather than somehow tie things together just made it all worse. A disastrous hair-do set things off to dramatic and repulsive effect. High-heeled boots completed the attempted 'I-am-America's-hawtest - diva' presentation.

Alas, her awfulness didn't end with her looks. During the intermissions she interviewed some of the singers and a trio of supernumeraries. Not only were her questions mindless (for which I don't blame her as they were probably provided by an over-worked intern) but she read them from cue cards. I sat in the theater thinking "For god's sake, woman, you have committed to memory page after page after page of some of the most difficult vocal music in the entire western operatic canon - and often in a language not your own. Can you not remember a few simple questions, so as not to have to read them from cue cards?" At least reading them ensured she got the questions right though, yes? No. She still managed to garble them and make a nonsense of a number of them.

Late last night I was on Twitter and saw an acquaintance had posted "I really think you cannot like opera and not love Renée Fleming!" Your scribe, who, let it be remembered, has rendered the entire plot of Wagner's Ring Cycle to fit onto one Twitter post was rendered temporarily tweetless. And then was less than kind.

Oh, the show? First-rate voices and a production that made Zeffirelli's look almost minimalist, with enormous sets and a cast of, if not thousands, certainly hundreds. And to answer the very question you are now all asking yourselves: Nope, no elephant. There were several horses, though - who were applauded when they came on stage. What was that about? Aida is not one of my favourite operas, but if it were I think I would have been very happy with Saturday's show.

So you wanna be an opera singer - redux
You may recall that a few weeks ago I posted an entry here offering advice to would-be opera singers. I now realise I could, and perhaps should, have saved us all the effort and simply posted the link to this.

Dear Anna Russell. They don't make 'em like that any more.

Beggar's Opera
On Saturday night I took Elizabeth to the Someday Lounge to see the Opera Theater Oregon production of The Beggar's Opera. I cannot say that I really understood it all or that I necessarily got what writers Stephen Marc Beaudoin and Michael Herrman were trying to say to the audience. Nevertheless, the script was amusing and the music both catchy and delightfully original, while retaining the spirit of the original John Gay work. The standard of singing and acting was uniformly high, and we had a really good time. The entire organisation, led by the irrepressible Katie Taylor deserves huge credit for once more putting on a show no one else in town could have come up with and produced with such love and professionalism.

There are still two shows left. If you haven't yet seen it, I suggest you should. You won't regret it, I am quite sure.

A rare opportunity
On 3rd November, Philip Glass (see picture above) will be in Portland as a guest of Portland Opera, PICA and the NW Film Center and will appear in 'An Evening With Philip Glass'. Having recently watched 'Glass. A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts' an extraordinary documentary film made by Scott Hicks, I am in no doubt but that Glass is one of the most interesting and thoughtful and articulate composers I have ever encountered. An opportunity to see him in person is pretty much irresistible. Go here for more information and tickets.