A Night at the Opera… and Other Random Ramblings

So I went to the opera yesterday.

This was a first for this tiny little fascist.

It was interesting.

I don’t know if I’d repeat the experience though. I can’t really review the performance because I don’t really have anything with which to compare it with. It would be unfair to compare it with a musical performance or a concert as I’m not an opera fan, so a lot of nuances would have missed me.

Of course, I will now go cheerfully ahead and review it. This reminds me of a meeting I once had when a senior colleague was about to offer comments on a paper I had written, and went

“I’m not really an expert on this, BUT…” and proceeded to make presumably authoritative comments on the weaknesses of the paper.

So there you go.

It was called The Pearl Fishers. By Georges Bizet, perhaps more famous for his Carmen. That said, the duet “Au fond de Temple saint” has been voted on top of listeners’ polls for BBC Radio 2 for the past twenty years. This is about all I knew about the opera when I entered the BMICH. Oh, it is also set among a fishing community in Sri Lanka, or Ceylon.

It started later than the 7pm given on the ticket, but then this is Sri Lanka. They gave me a free programme, for which I was appreciative, since I could quickly scan the script and plot lines, while we waited for the play to start. It was heavily attended by diplomats but I did not see any politicians. I did see Ranjith Fernando, looking swanky in a blue shirt. Was tempted to ask him: “So Ranjith. Good opera?”

“Certainly is.”

The git.

Anyway, I didn’t nod off, and actually, found it entertaining, if not stirring. One major reason for that is that the BMICH is not the right place for an opera. It is acoustically all wrong, and I suspect that the acoustics at the back of the balcony would not have been that great. The dancing did not seem the best, which was a surprise, given that the troupe was from India. But my initial suspicions were confirmed by a number of others, who also noted that the lighting was poor in several instances. I did not note this. That would be down to my relative lack of operatic experience or plays for that matter – I’ve only been to a handful. We fascists usually find ourselves with less cultured things to do.

Nonetheless, the singing was very good. The baritone, a teenager from India – Vikrant Subramanian – was very good, and his colleagues, the tenor, bass and soprano were also good, though not as good. I’m not sure how much of that was down to the fact that the baritone survived the suspect acoustic atmosphere better. I suspect that they were all very good. That said, the production lacked a little in sharpness and I (and presumably it) just drifted along in some sections. I did not feel that it was passionate enough in parts. Not the singing. The acting and the stage-craft, or whatever the heck you call it, perhaps.

That said, the crowd was vociferous in its approval. What do I know? Though I must confess incredulity when I heard a couple walking out state that the dancing was exceptional. Meh.

… and the Other Random Ramblings

After the cavalcades of comment that Obama was a shoo-in in New Hampshire, Hillary nipped in like a thief in the night. It doesn’t change much, it was a tight win, but it does demonstrate how difficult it is to predict these primaries, and the polls to follow. Exit polls! Pfft. Anyway, Hillary has been victimized, according to this blog. The author has a point. But then again, I see it as a little bit of a red herring. While it demonstrates how difficult it is for a woman to be taken seriously in US politics, let alone be elected as President (indeed, demonstrates how deep seated some of those old prejudices still are – a powerful commander-in-chief, he had better be a man, them ladies they can’t make the tough decisions, no?!), we shouldn’t be voting in Hillary just because she’s a woman. Just like Obama shouldn’t be in because he be African American. The substance is important. And Hillary, for me, personifies a lot that is wrong with established US politics. And Obama, for his part, seems to have little conviction on some rather important issues.

REM. New album. The word Accelerate is associated with it. I is excited. This holds out hope. While there are pitfalls to a fast album, I would say that I prefer the sound of it to another ‘atmospheric’ effort.

And finally, given my consternation over the last Robert Jordan volume, I am happy to report that a Robert Sanderson is taking over the writing/editing. Sanderson, by all accounts, is quite a handy fantasy writer, and he was hand picked by the author’s family. I haven’t read any of his stuff but hopefully he’ll provide the saga with an apt ending. This be his personal website.

And oh. Big Sam. Gone. Itty Bitty Amin will be having a good giggle.

That be about it.