I try to see a couple of operas a year…..if only there were more time in my schedule to see operas, musicals, modern dance, ballets, and concerts. I could happily attend several a week and unlike the sick feeling one gets from too much ice cream or whiskey, the more music and dance in my life, the more I crave.
The San Francisco Opera, albeit not New York, has an interesting upcoming season, including Rigoletto (Verdi), the infamous Barber of Seville which I always love, Carmen, Manon Lescaut (Puccini) and Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) to name a few.
I saw Die Fledermaus last week (Johann Strauss), which was more of an opera, comedy of errors, and musical combined. There was an air of hedonism and naughty playfulness pervading scene after scene, particularly in the first and third acts.
Amazon.com senior editor Thomas May writes of the production, where he references the humorous slap-stick like additions, including modern references to European Idle and the like. (moments of common references for us all, i.e., cronies in jail, desperate housewives).
He writes, “Stuffing a production with too much frolicking can simply bloat it. The device of the masquerade likewise relies on creatively fluid identities. Not only do these characters have to play at roles, but there are accents (satirically fake or not) that come along with these: Russian, French, Hungarian — and all this while the bubbly is continually being plied.”
An accurate account. An unexpected treat was the ballet duo in Act II, which left me breathless. The best I’ve seen? Not by far, but I’ve seen a lot of dance performances in my life…..does it have to be the best you’ve seen to leave you breathless? With dance, never. Abundance of expression, movement, joy, and color, qualities so visually lacking in our everyday lives.
Ballet, waltzing and opera combined, we also get festive singing, “surexcite par le champagne”:
His magesty we celebrate,
Celebrate, long and late;
Joyously together
We toast Champagne the Great!
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
