Rob and I went to the opera last night to see Xerxes. I considered cancelling altogether in favor of packing for Japan, but I'm so glad I didn't. This was my favorite show of the season so far!
Weighing in at a whopping 3 hours and 40 minutes, with Handel's famously repetitive "second verse same as the first" phrasing - this opera could be a beast. But the clever sets, a sense of humor and amazing vocal acrobatics of the singers made it a breeze.
I loved the staging especially. The action was set in a 1730's pleasure garden complete with wandering tourists, cactus conservatory, sculptures, ruins and bocce ball. If we were still living in our Victorian apartment with ample molding I would have been tempted to immediate paint a mural of trees on the walls like they had on stage.
There's one more show this Saturday - I highly recommend going if you have the chance!
Emily - bon voyage to you and Rob, looking forward to hearing all about your trip. We had a high school student from Kyoto live with us for her grade 11 year and would love to go some day.
ReplyDeleteThanks Patricia! We'll have a full report after Thanksgiving for you.
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