Parketts Row 22, Seat 1 -- Paradise!

Last night was the first show at Hamburg Opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, brilliant on every level -- all soloists perfect, orchestra amazing, set & concept engaging, funny and profound. And I got a special bonus! My set was on the Parkett level (in America the Orchestra), Row 22, seat 1 -- aisle seat, not too close, not too far back, but far back enough that being on the aisle didn't set me too far out to the side. Special bonus came from the opera house's design; it's a modern house, so instead of horseshoes for the balconies (what they call "Rang"), there are blocky cantilevered concrete protrusions. Probably good sightlines for them, but I don't care about that, what I care about is that a balcony section completely blocked the supertitles! Stage was completely clear, so it was best of both worlds (since my German is piss-poor & getting poorer, the text would only distract). The elderly German gentleman to my right was mightily irritated, and at intermission recamped to an empty seat he had spotted in the middle. My paradise was thus complete for the second half.

I seem to have an issue with great opera (and some other art) not unakin to Stendhal Syndrome. When the work reaches an apotheosis (or whatever you'd call it), I can completely zone out -- eyes may be open or shut but I can't move or speak, even thought I'm completely conscious of the sounds. This happened to me last night during Zerbinetta's big solo. I'm pretty sure I was drooling a little. So I'm doubly happy that the seat to my right was empty. I hope this doesn't reduce the chance of any of you attending the opera with me someday.

Today I took it easy, just hanging around in my room, going to the lobby to let the maid get her work done, buying a take-out pizza from the shop next door (this will serve as lunch, dinner & late snack). Nothing's going to interfere with la Battaglia di Legnano, one of only 2 original Verdi operas I haven't seen performed yet. Ground Zero for this trip, you might say! Wish me luck! Also, wish luck to the person in the seat on my right.

Even the red bits were gray

Back from la Battaglia di Legnano at the Hamburg Opera. Mission Accomplished! Goal Met!

That said, I don't really like la Battaglia di Legnano all that much.

Oh, it's okay, and it has its delights; the overture is a pip, and there's a little tune for the baritone that I often find myself humming & wondering where it's from. But this (the very last product of Verdi's "galley years") was a piece d'occasion and it shows. The scenes are either a cookie-cutter domestic triangle, or rousing agit-prop -- the two sides don't seem to work together at all. Not helping were directoral choices, such as setting the whole thing in what was either a dingy hospital, a dingy church or a dingy bus terminal. Gray overwhelmed, even the elevatored balcony that bounced up & down 20 feet over the singers' heads; the male chorus sang from there (with books, like a church choir!) in the first half, but it got put to better use at the end, when it became the tenor's apartment from which, driven mad by patriotism, he jumps into a moat. You can look it up if you care further.

But, with all that, I now have seen it performed, and I'm down to only one of Verdi's 26 original operas (that's il Corsaro, which nobody likes either, and I have a ticket to see it next March in Washington DC). Singers & orchestra acquitted themselves well, my new seat location (row 18 seat 1) only blocked half the supertitles, and the poor lady sitting to my right had no excuse or opportunity to move to another seat at the interval. Place was sold out! Probably a lot of people marking it off their to-do lists.

Tomorrow I promise to get out & see some of this great sprawling city outside the short walk to the U-Bahn station & the short walk from the Opera U-Bahn to the opera house. I swear. Maybe... maybe... I'll go see Rocky: das Musical. It has a matinee!