Opera queens

We just started attending operas a few seasons years ago. Last night was our first Wagner. We experienced 4 hours and 40 minutes of “Tristan und Isolde”. It was “Rainbow Series Night” at San Francisco Opera. It was all very grand and melodramatic and so was the opera! (tah-tah-boom) The music and singing was outstanding. And true to the opera cliché, the show was not over until the fat lady sang.

The best description of the opera’s story was in the program. David Baker wrote an essay called “Transforming the Myth…Driving People Mad” where he says:

“It has been said that the plot of Wagner’s ‘Tristan’ could be summarized as follows: ‘Act One is two women walking around the stage. Act Two, two people seated on a bench. The Third Act, a man who keeps getting up and lying down again.’ An exaggeration, but nearly true as far as externals go.”

Tonight, Oct 6 at 8pm, the opera is doing a free video simulcast of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” from San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza and Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University. We are leaving for the coast early this evening and will miss it. But we do have tickets see it in two weeks.