daffodils in D.C.

Daffodils in D.C.

April 2008

My iTunes: Bianca e Falliero: Cielo, Il Mio Labbra Ispira

I made it down to D.C. and back safely yesterday! I was definitely in pain by the end, but it was totally worth it. I took my grandmother down with me -- she hadn't been to an opera since she and my grandfather were dating in 1941! After driving to D.C. and living in London, I felt completely comfortable (mentally, at least) getting down there -- it's funny what you can get used to; I know some people wouldn't have gone just because the transportation aspect would scare them. But me, I'm such an opera lover that I won't let anything stop me, even extreme pain from a severely herniated disc!

Before the show, my grandmother and I had some time to kill, so I snapped some pictures of the yellow things that caught my eye, then we sat in the Starbucks down the street. A lot of the cast came in and got coffees before the show. Now that I'm "in the opera scene," I recognized a lot of them. A good portion of them were in the opera that I was just in. The funniest part was that one lady walked in whose face look very familiar and I thought she might be my teacher's mother. Turns out, I was right.

The show was amazing -- the cast was just phenomenal! Vivica Genoux played a stellar Falliero and her coloratura was stunning; Anna Christy was quite the rising star as Bianca and sang her full range effortlessly -- I even heard one woman refer to her as the new Kathleen Battle (quite the compliment if you know opera); Daniel Mobbs was a great hit as Capellio and his baritone voice was superbly cast for the part. I know I'm slightly biased, but my favorite was Kyle Engler (my teacher) -- had the part of Costanza had a good aria or two to give her a chance to show off her voice, I think she totally would have stolen the show = ) Sung with ease and finesse, her mezzo-soprano tones were rich and warm and seemed to fill the whole auditorium. Overall, it was an amazing performance!

As I mentioned in the last post, this one will have two pictures -- I can't resist sticking in the picture of Kyle and I from after the show = )