A Night at the Opera.
David and I went to our first Opera last night, at the Sydney Opera House... in the last three weeks we've been watching Operatunity Oz on ABC Television and decided we wanted to go and see 'Rigoletto' where the winner of the show would have a small lead role, it turned out that there was one winner and two second places. Internet friends of ours were also going so we decided to make a meal of it and meet up before the show at 'Opera Bar' which is run by Matt Moran one of Australia's great chefs. We can vouch for the food, the value and the atmosphere... just terrific and we'll be back.
The six finalists from left, Jody then the winner David Parkin, second place Emily and equal second Roy, then John and Rene.
Cameras on the Judging Panel while they sip champagne in the Opera House forecourt, I took this photo without a flash so there was movement but I rather like the way it's turned out.
Richard Gill announcing the start of Rigoletto.
The Winner is David Parkin , a Bass, playing the role of Sparafucile.
Check out some of the Audition Tapes if you have time, some are quite amusing.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/operatunityoz/
The six finalists from left, Jody then the winner David Parkin, second place Emily and equal second Roy, then John and Rene.
Cameras on the Judging Panel while they sip champagne in the Opera House forecourt, I took this photo without a flash so there was movement but I rather like the way it's turned out.
Richard Gill announcing the start of Rigoletto.
The Winner is David Parkin , a Bass, playing the role of Sparafucile.Check out some of the Audition Tapes if you have time, some are quite amusing.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/operatunityoz/
2 Comments:
Good morning Pennie
It was so kind of you to invite me to go to the opera with you. I had never been to the opera before either.
I enjoyed the Opera Bar very much. The wine was excellent. And the champagne. So was the port after dessert.
Why they have to use such big plates I’ll never know. I ordered the “Grilled Alaskan Halibut with Mango-Papaya Salsa on a Bed of Israeli Couscous, with Fresh Sonoma Vegetables” and it was the size of a fifty-cent piece. I was sitting next to Vera, who ordered “Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Sage on a Bed of Parmesan Polenta with a Honey-mustard Glaze”, which wasn’t much bigger.
Your internet friends seemed nice, even though most of them sat there saying absolutely nothing. The fellow on the other side of the table to me, just before the coffee arrived, said to no one in particular that he spent every night on his Dell Inspiron with wireless broadband connection playing either solitaire or minefield.
You have so many wonderful friends – all around the world. I’m lucky to be one of your tennis friends, especially as I can’t get around the court as quickly as I used to. You have your garden friends. You have your cooking friends. Your swimming friends (from the pelvic floor clinic). And now I have met your internet friends. You also have your quilting friends. I thought I was one of your quilting friends until I overheard Susan saying that you said to Mary that my swan and waterlily theme quilt looked like an overused Afghan prayer mat. And your David has his bus friends – all two of them.
But back to the dinner. I really enjoyed the dessert –“Pumpkin-Ginger Baked Alaska Pumpkin & Ginger Ice Cream atop a rich Brownie Cake covered in Meringue” all in a single shot glass on a bed of sea salt.
When the bill arrived you asked whether I had my credit card with me. You are such a tease, you know I always do. All your internet friends, previously silent, then found voice to thank me for my kindness. Mr Solitaire Minefield saved me some embarrassment by reminding me to add 10% to the bill as a tip.
We then waddled (I waddled and limped) across the forecourt and into the beautiful Opera House which the Queen opened when she was so young and beautiful all those years ago with Prince Phillip. Bill and I were on the Neutral Bay ferry and saw some of it going on, which was how we learned about it. Last time we’d looked there were tramsheds there.
There was a nice looking girl in a smart frock standing on a box selling programs and you said it might be a nice memory of the night if I bought one. I opened my purse, but having pre-paid for parking (thank you for the lift - I would have never have managed the train), I was glad the girl took Visa. As I was looking over your shoulder, I could see that the program mostly had glossy pictures of young things in sleek cars. On page 44 you found it – “Rigoletto”, but it was an advertisement for an ice-cream.
We were a little late because of going to the Opera Bar and practically had to climb over people to get to our seats. I was in Stalls S49 – I still have my ticket too. Some people stood up and tucked their tummies right in to let me pass. Others just stayed sitting and folded their legs as best they could underneath their seats. Remember, I’m a big woman. I’m afraid my caliper did quite a bit of damage.
No sooner did we sit down and the lights went out. What good timing! When the orchestra started I got such a fright. You told me to expect an overture, but I took you to mean an invitation from one of your gentleman internet friends, which was why I had my overnight bag with me with all my creams.
Not long after the orchestra started my mobile phone rang and it was Hymie Noella, calling all the way from the FulFlood Arms at Winchester. I laughed and laughed. It was about eighteen years since I had been there. Bill and I did England, Scotland and Wales in a mini on a shoestring and we had a happy time in Winchester going from pub to pub. I asked her whether she had tried the stout from the Greene King just around the corner. After telling her about Nana’s fall I said love you and I turned the mobile off, so as to be sure I would not interfere with anyone else’s enjoyment of the opera, not that it had started yet. The orchestra seemed to go on forever. Not one decent tune.
Then the curtain went up and what beautiful scenery! It was a ball scene. People were dancing to the happy music and then this hunchback started singing. And it was beautiful to see someone with such a handicap could sing so loudly – except I couldn’t understand a word! I saw Andrea Bocelli on 60 Minutes once. He’s blind and sings like a nightingale - a boy one. I was hoping he might be in Rigoletto but I realised there would have to be someone on stage with him pointing him in the right direction. If he was Stevie Wonder or the late Ray Charles, both wonderful blind singers, they could sit Andrea Bocelli at a piano facing out towards Stalls S47, S48 and S49 and the internet crowd and the others and not worry that he might fall into the orchestra or wander off to the back of the stage. Or they could give him a seeing eye dog, but I don’t think they had seeing eye dogs in the time of Rigoletto. Soon the curtain came down and the lights only half came on, just enough so that I could see what I had been coughing into my hanky.
While the curtain was down, they must have been very busy on stage because all of a sudden the lights go off again, the curtain goes up, the music starts and now we are outside a house and a lady is singing and her diction is just as bad as the hunchback and it might as well have been in Italian and I still couldn’t understand a word. I think I nodded off a little towards the end and maybe started snoring because you gave me a big poke in the ribs.
Then the lights come on again and we all clap. I couldn’t wait to get out of there I was bursting so much. You said to meet at the bar and I went as fast as I could climbing all over the other people again and not doing so much damage because my caliper was now on the other side to the people.
I just made it after queuing for twenty minutes. I found you all at the bar taking photos of each other and you said Jennifer’s shout and we all had a nice glass of Moet and pretended to discuss the plot (none of us had a clue what it was about) while we were really celebrity spotting. We only saw one – Diana Fischer from The Inventors whose daughter went out with James Packer. Your internet friends were all gathered around a TV monitor showing a picture of the inside of the hall we had just come out of.
Then some bells started ringing and a smooth woman’s voice on the public address system said that “Act 2” would start in 10 minutes, please make your way to your seats. We were amazed at the amount of organisation at the Opera House and wished we had bought tickets to “Act 2” and not just Rigoletto so made our way down to the car park.
I didn’t think operas would be so short, just 20 minutes but it was so beautiful. I needn’t have pre-paid for the parking because there were hardly any other cars leaving.
You could have dropped me off a little closer to my house, but thank you anyway for a lovely evening and for thinking of me.
See you next Wednesday at 333 for our usual. Would you like me to bring anything?
Love
Jennifer
(That's a difficult comment to follow!)
I enjoyed Operatunity Oz. Years ago I sang in the "Singing Christmas Tree Choir" (mostly Con people) at the Opera House, which Richard Gill conducted - he was an inspiring conductor at rehearsals and performances - so clear and determined, setting himself and us high standards.
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