Night at the opera
Last night I took the girl I'm seeing (more on that sometime soon) to her first opera. The first time the Royal Opera has put on Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mohagonny.
As has been throughout the history of opera, for me, it is as much about being out and being seen as the production itself. The Royal Opera House is a stunning venue to be inside. I was accompanied by the most beautiful woman in the room. I had dressed for the occasion in a my charcoal Savile Row suit, a purple twill shirt, and the purple striped bow tie I got for my friend's wedding a couple weeks ago. My date wore an eye-turning form-fitted digital print dress, very low cut, with spaghetti straps and had smoky eyes and dark nail polish. She tends to stand out anyway with red dyed curly hair and petite frame, but this was something else. Standing at the bar drinking Champagne with her made me feel on top of the world.
I normally sit up in the amphitheatre but for this production I got orchestra circle seats. The view from up top is really very good, but this was definitely better (not all the expensive seats are). Great seats... beautiful date... I think I would have even enjoyed a poor production.
The reviews of the opera have been poor, but I really liked it; importantly, so did she. It got a little heavy-handed in the last act, but what I most enjoyed was the music. There was something very nostalgic in the early 20th century harmonies and melodies that engaged me from start to finish. It pulled at the piece of my soul that spent 5 years getting a degree in music.
We had a light dinner beforehand of modern tapas and enjoyed a glass of sweet Medeira at a venerable old wine bar on the way home. The time spent together in my flat was also rewarding.
I've not done much else this weekend, in fact I did much of nothing at all the rest of Saturday. But as a centerpiece, this is an event I will remember. The only improvement I could have made was to get a photo of us together.
As has been throughout the history of opera, for me, it is as much about being out and being seen as the production itself. The Royal Opera House is a stunning venue to be inside. I was accompanied by the most beautiful woman in the room. I had dressed for the occasion in a my charcoal Savile Row suit, a purple twill shirt, and the purple striped bow tie I got for my friend's wedding a couple weeks ago. My date wore an eye-turning form-fitted digital print dress, very low cut, with spaghetti straps and had smoky eyes and dark nail polish. She tends to stand out anyway with red dyed curly hair and petite frame, but this was something else. Standing at the bar drinking Champagne with her made me feel on top of the world.
I normally sit up in the amphitheatre but for this production I got orchestra circle seats. The view from up top is really very good, but this was definitely better (not all the expensive seats are). Great seats... beautiful date... I think I would have even enjoyed a poor production.
The reviews of the opera have been poor, but I really liked it; importantly, so did she. It got a little heavy-handed in the last act, but what I most enjoyed was the music. There was something very nostalgic in the early 20th century harmonies and melodies that engaged me from start to finish. It pulled at the piece of my soul that spent 5 years getting a degree in music.
We had a light dinner beforehand of modern tapas and enjoyed a glass of sweet Medeira at a venerable old wine bar on the way home. The time spent together in my flat was also rewarding.
I've not done much else this weekend, in fact I did much of nothing at all the rest of Saturday. But as a centerpiece, this is an event I will remember. The only improvement I could have made was to get a photo of us together.