Joy and Sorrow: The Paradox of Madama Butterfly
Last night LH and I went to see Madama Butterfly. Admittedly one of my fave operas (well the aria is anyways). It was what I imagined it would be. Simple and haunting and beautiful.
We were very high up and for the first time, we did not luck out with our tickets. If I did not mention before when we went to see the The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee we sat in the front row and for The Produders, we sat in the third row. This time we were high up and it over looked the stage so we could not really see back stage. But to me it had its own intimacy. There was only one person in from and one behind so there was a feeling that only we were the ones looking at the opera. Silly but still it was intimate.
The story was haunting and simple. Boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy leaves promising to come back, girls waits (with some jokes about robins nests), boy comes back with new wife, girl kills herself leaving son for boy...oh, with singing. And it was amazing that all the Japanese knew Italian.
Seriously. It was wonderful and I was glad that I could see it with LH. I have grown very attached to her but she will leave soon and I will miss her terribly. In some ways, some of the events of the opera was playing out in my head. Joy and sorrow were two themes of the opera and these themes are playing out in my head. Such as how related the two are. But enough of this.
I am indebited to her for showing me many of the cultural places here in NY. When she goes, I shall have to honour her by attending a few more shows.
It was lucky to have seen so many shows and places this first year. I never intended to do as much and I am grateful for those who pulled me and and showed me more of New York!
Still...
We were very high up and for the first time, we did not luck out with our tickets. If I did not mention before when we went to see the The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee we sat in the front row and for The Produders, we sat in the third row. This time we were high up and it over looked the stage so we could not really see back stage. But to me it had its own intimacy. There was only one person in from and one behind so there was a feeling that only we were the ones looking at the opera. Silly but still it was intimate.
The story was haunting and simple. Boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy leaves promising to come back, girls waits (with some jokes about robins nests), boy comes back with new wife, girl kills herself leaving son for boy...oh, with singing. And it was amazing that all the Japanese knew Italian.
Seriously. It was wonderful and I was glad that I could see it with LH. I have grown very attached to her but she will leave soon and I will miss her terribly. In some ways, some of the events of the opera was playing out in my head. Joy and sorrow were two themes of the opera and these themes are playing out in my head. Such as how related the two are. But enough of this.
I am indebited to her for showing me many of the cultural places here in NY. When she goes, I shall have to honour her by attending a few more shows.
It was lucky to have seen so many shows and places this first year. I never intended to do as much and I am grateful for those who pulled me and and showed me more of New York!
Still...