Opera

Yes, opera. last time Ronnie and I were in Paris, we had Opera tickets, but we misread the time and showed up half an hour late. The theater was completely locked up and we were really upset. We found out the next day that the musicians were on strike and the performance was canceled. This time, we got our tickets and got in a taxi 45 minutes before the 7:30 curtain. Mind you, had the ladies not been wearing high heels, we could have walked in about 25 minutes, and the Metro would have taken 15 or 20 minutes, but a taxi it was, and a disaster it was. The driver got in a traffic jam and would not turn out of it. Finally I summoned up enough French to start saying, un autre route. Fine for a block, then into another jam. Finally at 7:30, he suggested that we get out because the Opera was around the corner. We ran, as best as could be accomplished under the circumstances, and got into the theater to a classic French chorus of disapproval, with each ticket checker rolling their eyes and reminding us that it started at 7:30. I'm not kidding, the usher actually rolled her eyes. She didn't even try to get us to our seats, but folded out 4 jump seats in the aisle (guess they're not too strict about the fire laws here), sat us down and the lights dimmed and the show began.

We didn't stay for the whole thing. In our defense, let me note that the performance was 4 hours total and I should also mention that it wasn't my idea, and that the plot was, even in the liberal context of opera plots, incomprehensible. I read the synopsis 3 times and still couldn't follow it. Here's a piece of it:

ACT I

Scene 1. A deserted spot surrounded by hills

Bradamante, disguised as her brother Ricciardo, and her tutor Melisso have been ship-wrecked and cast ashore while searching for her lover Ruggiero. They meet Morgana, Alcina's sister, who falls in love with the disguised Bradamante and promises to take them to Alcina. With a clap of thunder the hills part and Alcina is revealed, surrounded by her court, including Ruggiero and a young boy called Oberto. She receives the travellers graciously and tells Ruggiero to show them the sights of the island.

Bradamante confronts Ruggiero, who recognises her as Ricciardo but denies any interest in Ricciardo's sister - he is the faithful lover of Alcina.

He runs off to find her and Oberto asks the travellers if they have seen his father Astolfo. They too had been cast ashore by a storm, but his father, after a welcome from Alcina, had disappeared. Bradamante suspects that Astolfo has been changed into a wild beast, like Alcina's other victims.

Oronte, Alcina's commander-in-chief, rightly suspecting the constancy of Morgana, whom he loves, charges Bradamante with having stolen Morgana's love. Morgana defends Bradamante and insults Oronte. Bradamante tries to calm their mutual recriminations.

Got it? And the action flows naturally from there. This is just the first SCENE. And there were naked guys onstage for that scene too, though it was impossible to glean their purpose. To add to the confusion, back in Handel's time, the "female" characters were played by castratos (I checked and it's not castratoes). Thankfully, there were not available for this staging, so they used women to play women pretending to play men. And let's not get into the enchanted wild beasts part of the plot, which doesn't happen until act 2. I think it has a happy ending though, except that Alcina herself is somewhat dissatisfied, but not enough to call it a tragedy.

So we went for desert across the street and took the Metro home. Off to Reims tomorrow to visit Champagne producers and ride the 200 mph train.

I'll post some photos tomorrow.