this morning we were uptown again . . at the metropolitan opera for a dress rehearsal of gioachino rossini's la donna del lago. these events are free. the trick is to know someone who is on the special ticket list.
the rehearsal is usually about four hours with a long intermission during which everyone eats lunch out in the lobby.
everyone!
and then we all troop back inside for the final acts.
the opera is based on a poem by sir walter scott written in 1810 involving the habit of king james v of scotland of walking through the kingdom in disguise. he comes upon elena in the countryside and of course falls in love with her. however, she is in love with another, and also betrothed to a third someone completely different from the one who falls in love with her and the one whom she loves. it's all combined with a battle for the control of scotland, and surprisingly, all ends happily. my friend's thirteen year old daughter requested of her mother to see an opera in which a woman was not degraded and in which everyone didn't die at the end. this was it, and the music was beautiful. the set was a typical unwieldy and creaky met set with gaudy costumes and huge confusing crowd scenes . . but, oh well. one can't have everything.
afterward chanda and i stopped at onstage dance to pick up her soft ballet slippers that had been ordered (she gets an extra wide size) and then took the bus downtown for her ballet class. we stopped in ciao for now for a cup of steamed ginger tea, a scallion cheddar biscuit and spicy chili. it was 19 degrees out and it really warmed us up.
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