When one item is checked off the bucket list, two shall take its place!

[albadger]

Ground Zero. Only three things today, but they were important:

1. National Gallery of Art. I spent many hours here when I lived in the DC area 40 years ago. They have my three favorite paintings in the world, which I will share here without comment
   


2. We Are Proud to Present... Okay, this one wasn't quite as important, but I did want to touch some slightly more edgy theater while I was here. Fascinating playing space, but the play, meh; most of the way a good ride, alternating between dead-on parody of actor's workshop game-playing and an exploration of an under-reported atrocity in Namibia under German rule... and then goes off the rails at the end and turns into a clumsy reenactment of good ol' USA racial atrocity, which doesn't seem to have anything at all to do with what went before. Worse than that, the ending had nothing for the splendid Dawn Ursula, herself reason to sit through the show (at least until she disappears). This baby's not getting produced much, but I'd go see anything with Ms. Ursula in it.


3. ...and then, Ground Zero! Verdi's il Corsaro, the last of the 26 original Verdi operas that I'd never attended a performance of. This one's not getting produced much either, in spite of some magnificent music, because
   
   
   1. if you have the resources to do it, you have the resources to do il Trovatore, which more people will come to, and
   
   
   2. there are two leading ladies; Gulnara (Tamara Wilson today) is by far the meatier part, but the big final trio is all about Medora (here sung by Nicole Cabell), who drank poison only seconds before learning that her boyfriend wasn't dead after all. Cat fight a-brewin'!
   
   
   Tenor Michael Fabiano was great, as were both Wilson and Cabell, but I got the distinct impression that the two ladies weren't speaking to each other. Drama!

Flying out to Tampa tomorrow, with all DC goals accomplished (except impulse-buy goals I thought up while I was here so they don't count). I may have finished the Verdi 26, you're thinking, but what about the Verdi 28? I'm way ahead of you -- that's why I'm flying to Tampa. Enjoy.

Comments

[andybr.livejournal.com]

Glad the Verdi was great! I love the way Rubens painted fabrics. Reach out and touch material.

[albadger.livejournal.com]

True on the Rubens -- which is why they have DON'T TOUCH THE ART signs everywhere. It's too tempting.

il Corsaro wasn't just well-performed, but it came off as a good, worth-while work, in spite of the hokey plot (which was not my experience with Alzira or Battaglia di Legnano last year, or Jerusalem last night). I still don't expect to see Corsaro staged but it has real power.