Il Barbiere de Sevilla

Last night I went to see my first actual opera. It was an actual opera in the Opera House. The Barber of Seville, in Italian. I went with the woman who taught the opera class that I took a couple of months ago, and I'm delighted that I was able to take her along and do something nice in return for everything I got out of the class.

The opera was great, very lively and funny. I had bought the CD and worked through the first part while sitting with the libretto in both Italian and English, and I wish I could have done more homework and gone through the whole thing because it really helps you understand the lines if you've seen the Italian and the translation side by side. As it was, there were the supertitles so I could follow the rest of the story, and let's face it, the story is pretty simple. The singing isn't as loud as on a CD of course, so the lack of amplification takes a bit of getting used to, but it was so accomplished, and the singers were having so much fun doing it. Lots of lines that end on a big "Laaaaaa!" with arms outstretched, and lots of passages that are so quick that you wonder how a human can sing them. The set was just amazing, a colourful Gaudi-style wonderland. I have the program, so today I'll look into exactly who did what and who they all are.

It had just started to rain when I walked from Circular Quay, so the Opera House, as it loomed above me on approach, was blurred by mist and quite otherworldly, and when we came out the bridge looked the same, arching out of a cloud.