One of the things I love about living here in DC is the number of opportunities to enjoy cultural activities, especially music. Originally my posts regarding my musical experiences of the past week were going to be just one, but then they were just too long, so I decided to break them up.
Last Sunday was the annual National Opera simulcast on the Mall. This year was "La Boheme," one of the greatest operas ever! And to top that, the weather was perfect--bright, sunny, and warm, completely the opposite of last year's cold rain.
It was also fun this year because of the company. Katie and I joined several other people from church, including Melinda, who sings with the Opera company on a fairly regular basis. She's a trip, and is great fun to hang out with. She was also great to watch opera with, because she could really comment on what was going on.
The opera itself was fantastic. The director has a background in film making, and so he approached the opera with that sensibility. He also took it into modern times, so the singers were wearing jeans and using modern cameras/camcorders on the stage. He also updated the Cafe Momus scene, complete with drag queens and whips... Some people didn't like the production, but I thought it was pretty cool.
Finally, the singing was great. In fact, the lead tenor who played Rudolfo was INCREDIBLE. His name is Vittorio Grigolo, but his nickname is "Little Pavarotti" and totally lives up to it. He debuted in professional opera at the age of 13! He's Italian, and he actually knew all the major tenor arias by the time he was 5! In addition to his major vocal talent, he totally has the looks to go with them. Unfortunately, the only recording he's done is a pop opera album. Which is fine and all, but that style doesn't really show off his true voice.
If you go to his website, however, there's a clip from when he participated in a West Side Story production--he truly takes the song "Maria" to a whole new level.
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On a different note, there was a mass email sent to members of a list serv of former Spartan Marching Band members asking if they wanted to be on the Alumni Band float for the homecoming parade. Unfortunately, people didn't read the entire email, so they just hit "reply" and sent their answers to the ENTIRE list!
Of course, this set off the inevitable flood of "quit sending me these things" emails. As a result, there have been a bazillion emails today over the list. But the best exchange came earlier today, when someone complained:
"I have received over 25 emails today. There is something WRONG!!!!!!!!!"
The reply:
"There must be something wrong. Because you should have received over 30 emails. You may want to check with your ISP, you are not getting all of your e-mail."
When people can get so much junk and still have a sense of humor, all is right with the world.
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Also, even though my boys lost on Saturday, I'm very proud of them. They made a GREAT game of it, and didn't give up. They'll still be able to pull out a great season!
Tags: dc life, football, humor, msu, music, smb
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