An old friend showed up unexpectedly last Friday, and I wanted to do something that would be considered very New York before she flew back home. Die Zauberflote was playing at the Metropolitan, I said. Maybe we could catch that. Ever since I saw my first opera in the spring of 2006, I have been completely captivated by the music, the sets, the singers (not so much the $65 you need to choke up to get orchestra seats -- but hey! This is NYC!). My first was Il Forza del Destino by Verdi, but my favorites are the two based on Beaumarchais' plays: Figaro and Barbiere di Siviglia (the two titles refer to the same character). I just like leaving the Met in high spirits and Figaro's "cinque! dieci! venti! trenta!" in my head.

Anyways, was completely excited because DZ is a MOZART opera and because it was sung in GERMAN. Most of the ones I saw before were sung in Italian (with only Cyrano in French and First Emperor in English -- coincidentally both title roles sung by Placido Domingo), and I was curious as to how a German opera would sound. For the record, although Tan Dun's music was divine, the English libretto ruined it for me.

Anyway, back to Die Zauberflote. Apparently, this opera is well known for the "Queen of the Night" aria in the second act, where the soprano hits extremely high notes at a very fast pace. (See the pic of the Queen of the Night from the Met Website). The plot isn't exactly edge-of-your-seat excitement. It is a rather loose allegory of the tension between truth and superstition, darkness and light, complacency and sacrifice.

Our seats had partial views, but considering they were only 15 USD, I was more than happy to lean forward whenever Papageno flits towards the right end of the stage (my right, not his). I always loved the grandiose sets of the Met (well, they do need to fill that ginormous stage). Mozart's music, as always, full and beautiful (and hummable, which I think should be an important characteristic of a good opera--since this is considered the pop music of the 18th and 19th centuries). James Levine was conducting (Yay!) and the Met Orchestra, is still the best orchestra, in NYC, to the best of my knowledge.

Found this quiz on some random quiz site. I haven't seen Cosi Fan Tutte yet, but maybe I should make definite plans to see it.

Which Mozart Opera Does Your Life Most Resemble?

Cosi Fan Tutte (All Women Do Thus). For a complete synopsis, see http://www.metopera.org/synopses/cosi.html.
Take this quiz!

Something else I found on the Met Website. If you look closely, I'm sure some of you will recognize 2 very familiar people at the first Met performance at Lincoln Center.