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Jan. 31st, 2004 09:26 amI love this guy. I got to see him narrate the plot of Carmen (Bizet) for a concert performance of the opera with the Kingston Symphony yesterday.
Oh yes, most of the rest of the performance was quite enjoyable as well. I've heard many bits and pieces of Carmen before, naturally, but never the whole opera.The music is very charming (lots of fun faux-Spanish touches) if not overly sophisticated in its development. It went over like wildfire with the packed house, of course. The Symphony has promoted the heck out of it because this is the type of programming that brings in the money.
I saw my flute professor at the concert (she's in the Symphony) and intended to speak to her (re: sleeping through my lesson again this Wednesday) but I never found the moment to break into her conversation before she went upstairs to the reception.
* * *
After missing the earlier (on-time) bus at noon, I made it to about half of a fascinating lecture on Falstaff (i.e. its transformation from Shakespeare to Boito/Verdi), the cultural significance of the hunt, and horn calls. This would be the second guest lecture by the same professor who taught Canadian Music last term and is teaching Opera and the Romantic Tradition (a special topic course) this term... yet who is leaving at the end of the year. We were a practice audience; he's presenting the lecture in Toronto today.
( ... )
Speaking of opera and Toronto (as I was a couple paragraphs ago): I am quite excited about this. It sure took long enough for an acclaimed opera based on a novel by a Canadian author to come to Canada...
* * *
Once I finally left the theatre after Carmen, I went to Tim Hortons[1] for dinner because I knew it was likely to be only place open after 11pm. Having spent the entire day saying very little to anybody, I felt more and more dejected as I sat there considering (a) how many familiar faces I'd seen at the theatre and (b) that I was still eating dinner alone. I was feeling very low indeed as I walked back to the theatre to call a cab and passed the restaurant next to the theatre where a group of third-year students were dining, but my evening was brightened considerably by a friendly conversation with a street person who was warming himself at the heating vent in the outer lobby. Initially, he thought I was "one of the street people"--interesting, but then again I originally thought he was a security guard. I guess cold weather makes one less observant.
[1] a.k.s. The place that used to have really good donuts but changed them recently so that they haven't a chance in h-ll of competing with the American Krispy Kreme invasion. Oh yeah... they serve coffee too and other food too.
* * *
My sleep patterns are royally screwed up at the moment because I've been getting insomnia for days at a time. Must fix that this weekend. And catch up in the New Testament[2] readings and finish a four-page essay. And practice more. And start on the Don Giovanni paper for Opera class. And vacuum. And...
My cold finally seems to be departing though, so that's good.
[2] Taught, interestingly, by a a very Jewish professor. He goes off on weird rants (the immigrant contribution to U.S. urban renewal when discussing Paul?), but aside from that I like his teaching style so far.
Oh yes, most of the rest of the performance was quite enjoyable as well. I've heard many bits and pieces of Carmen before, naturally, but never the whole opera.The music is very charming (lots of fun faux-Spanish touches) if not overly sophisticated in its development. It went over like wildfire with the packed house, of course. The Symphony has promoted the heck out of it because this is the type of programming that brings in the money.
I saw my flute professor at the concert (she's in the Symphony) and intended to speak to her (re: sleeping through my lesson again this Wednesday) but I never found the moment to break into her conversation before she went upstairs to the reception.
* * *
After missing the earlier (on-time) bus at noon, I made it to about half of a fascinating lecture on Falstaff (i.e. its transformation from Shakespeare to Boito/Verdi), the cultural significance of the hunt, and horn calls. This would be the second guest lecture by the same professor who taught Canadian Music last term and is teaching Opera and the Romantic Tradition (a special topic course) this term... yet who is leaving at the end of the year. We were a practice audience; he's presenting the lecture in Toronto today.
( ... )
Speaking of opera and Toronto (as I was a couple paragraphs ago): I am quite excited about this. It sure took long enough for an acclaimed opera based on a novel by a Canadian author to come to Canada...
* * *
Once I finally left the theatre after Carmen, I went to Tim Hortons[1] for dinner because I knew it was likely to be only place open after 11pm. Having spent the entire day saying very little to anybody, I felt more and more dejected as I sat there considering (a) how many familiar faces I'd seen at the theatre and (b) that I was still eating dinner alone. I was feeling very low indeed as I walked back to the theatre to call a cab and passed the restaurant next to the theatre where a group of third-year students were dining, but my evening was brightened considerably by a friendly conversation with a street person who was warming himself at the heating vent in the outer lobby. Initially, he thought I was "one of the street people"--interesting, but then again I originally thought he was a security guard. I guess cold weather makes one less observant.
[1] a.k.s. The place that used to have really good donuts but changed them recently so that they haven't a chance in h-ll of competing with the American Krispy Kreme invasion. Oh yeah... they serve coffee too and other food too.
* * *
My sleep patterns are royally screwed up at the moment because I've been getting insomnia for days at a time. Must fix that this weekend. And catch up in the New Testament[2] readings and finish a four-page essay. And practice more. And start on the Don Giovanni paper for Opera class. And vacuum. And...
My cold finally seems to be departing though, so that's good.
[2] Taught, interestingly, by a a very Jewish professor. He goes off on weird rants (the immigrant contribution to U.S. urban renewal when discussing Paul?), but aside from that I like his teaching style so far.
