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It was pretty damned cool.
Mind you, I have very wide and eclectic tastes in music, thanks primarily to my parents who also had wide and eclectic tastes in music, and went out of their way to expose their children to everything from classical, to jazz, to folk, to rock and roll. [Side note: Dad, you still have my Santana album...] But I don't really go out of my way to listen to opera much these days.
Still, a few months ago, when my writer pal Nancy Holzner (who is a huge opera fan) suggested that we go to see Aida at the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, I responded with an enthusiastic, YOU BET! For one thing, I really enjoy Nancy's company, and since we live about 2 hours away from each other, I rarely get to see her. For another, I am working hard at getting out of my work/write/garden/chores rinse and repeat rut, and this seemed like a perfect excuse for a day out.
And you know what? It was! We had a lovely day; the weather cooperated (which was questionable), the food was good, the company was great--we got to catch up on each other's lives and talk writing, writing, and a little more writing--and the opera itself was just fantastic. The singers who played Aida (Michelle Johnson) and Amonasro, Aida's father (Eric Owens) were simply stellar, and overall the production was terrific, although we both agreed that a few of the modern touches were a little jarring.
Still, a terrific day out, as you can clearly see:
Big thanks to Nancy for coming up with such a great idea, and for spending such a great day with me! (And signing my copy of her latest book while she was here...)
What have you all done recently to get out of your usual "same old same old" rut?
And did you notice that the blog is almost at 40 THOUSAND PAGE VIEWS??? Holy crap! I'll have to do something to celebrate when we hit the big 40K!
