Split personality. Liking the arts, especially opera, and hockey and Los Toros. I know, I know THAT one is non pc currently. But I can't help it saw some in Spain and got hooked, but good.
But on the other hand right now opera and hockey are in the forefront!
Yes, it is the new book by Pamela Cramer: Murder at the Frankfurt Opera.
Written in a crisply simple way (a bit Hemingway-esque methinks) it's a quick, interesting read. Written with a sense of humor which will make you chuckle.
Sprinkled among the pages are photos of the author in her various operatic roles, alongside some pen and ink drawings by Angela Cramer, the younger daughter.
A pointed lead-in says a lot about what opera can, and will do, by no other than the GM of the Frankfurt Opera.
The reader learn all about what's going on behind the curtain.
How singers sing, or not.
How voices develop, and are classified.
How one gets a job in Germany.
How unions order what and when things happen.
How one eats, sleeps and shops over the big pond.
How costumes and made, conductor conduct and sets work.
It is a veritable "How to book" about opera.
With details, that may surprise event the most fervent opera fan.
How mishaps happen.
And how a seeming mishap turns to murder.
More I shall not disclose-go ahead and read it!
Lately I have been thinking weird thoughts.
Well, weird in the way that they are disjointed and disconnected from my daily life!
Rummaging around my CD library seeking out symphonies by Mahler, Schubert, Dvorak, Beethoven, who all died before completing a tenth symphony.
Then pulling out recordings by Callas, then Piaf.
And then it hit me:
Piaf's voice, to me, is possibly the only voice that can beat Callas's .
Both singers have that rare raw, heart wrenching deeply felt sound.
And when it comes to concert music, I’ve always enjoyed listening to recordings more than live performances, and I have attended live performances in St. Louis, Houston and elsewhere. But at home I can close my eyes and just enjoy. Or I can listen to it with my ears, while reading a book. Or I can sit with legs up, glass of the bubbly beside me and enjoy it all in my own personal space!
I can get up if I have to, twist around if I must, and not worry I may disturb neighbors at a concert! Sure, CD's are polished and edited to create that perfect sound balance. But when it comes to concerts I say why not! Perhaps, because I do not play an instrument and so am not mesmerized by what players do on stage!
Now when it comes to opera. I am of the other opinion.
Opera, as Theater, MUST be experienced live. Flaws and all.
The voice is not a perfect instrument, the voice varies with age, experience, health.. and yet can produce sounds that awe, stun and transport. Nothing, IMO, beats a LIVE performance.
And soon I will have them at the OH and HGO. I may then blog on the performance I have seen!
In a dire emergency, I can watch a DVD, if I must just, that I not suffer withdrawal symptoms ;-).
And as I also enjoy hockey, I say the same for that. LIVE is better than on Television, but if that's all there is, I will condescend to watching on the tube, as long as it is a very BIG one, lol!
And that is now again possible, albeit by a drive to San Antonio
Rampage vs Icehogs
, or elsewhere, since our Houston team was moved north.
Now, I do admit, that I may travel to see opera in Santa Fe
Loretto chapel, mystery staircase
,
Boston
Boston
and other cities.
But would not as readily do so for hockey.
Well, I have been an opera fan longer than an hockey fan :-).
Of course, going somewhere where I can have both,
plus musea... that to me is the perfect holiday!
Which is coming up in December!
now that the NHL and AHL schedules are out, the Aeros team is in place plus or minus a few last minute free agent signings, if any, the team's system established, we, the fans, can just sit back, choose our games, if we do not buy the whole season ticket package and wait for day one!
Or we can start planning our trips to
a) coincide with OUR team's away schedule, or
b) compare the hockey and the opera schedules and arrange trips around both.
Which is what I'd rather do, so San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Estero, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota and more, are definitely on our agenda.
Plus some scheduled surgery for Better Half which will restrict his movements for about 2-3 weeks, but after THAT we are free to go again.
It would be a neat and different thing to see OUR team in Minnesota, plus the Motherteam's face off with our OLD team, the St. Louis Blues... alas, there is NO opera playing at that exact time we'd like to see (the week before, some time after that February 12th) but nothing the night before or a night after, BIG SIGH.
And as much as I like Hockey, an expensive trip without an opera or two is not quite the thing when we can have that and more in Florida...Tampa (Tampa Bay Lightening), Estero (Everblades), Ft.Lauderdale (Panthers), Sarasota (2 Operas - The Crucible AND I Lombardi!) etc. plus lolling in Bonita Springs ;-0!
Meanwhile, Opera in the Heights artists are arriving for a Zarzuela Evening, and start rehearsals for The Tales of Hoffmann, while at HGO, Madame Butterfly and Peter Grimes are the first operas in its repertory plus a much touted Mariachi Opera with favorites, like Octavio Moreno (Baritone) David Guzman (Tenor) and Mariachi Vargas, one of the best known and much traveled group, sample clip below.
