penn

Tosca & opera thoughts

This past weekend, we went to Minnesota Opera's production of Tosca. It was truly beautiful; gorgeous sets, wonderful music, and amazing singing. Matt and I have been subscribing to the opera for the past three years, and I think this might be my favorite (or close to it).

what I loved:

• everyone sang beautifully; this was so well-cast


• there were two large statues in the set: made from styrofoam then hand-painted, they legitimately looked like marble and metal statues


• the costumes were gorgeous


• the opera moved along at a good pace; I never felt as if the action were stalled or the music stuck on one point over and over


• death scenes: quick and non-agonizing

This is a Puccini opera, and I haven't always loved his operas in the past. They've been fine but not excellent. Maybe that's because I'm not an opera person. We subscribed to the opera more for the experience of it. After 11 operas over three years, I can truly say I feel like we've experienced opera now. We are no experts, but we have a reasonable breadth of shows we have been to.

This opera was just fantastic. It's even led to some mixed feelings. We decided not to renew our opera subscription for next year. We can renew again in the future, and we are ready to explore some other options for our date nights (hiking, plays, other concerts, game nights -- who knows?). I was okay with this, because we've also attended some operas I didn't love as much. But, on the whole, I'm glad to go out on a high note. This encourages me to see operas again in the future.

For the record, the operas we've seen:

• La Boheme -- outdoor venue, pretty fun, lots of lovely music


• Manon Lescaut -- 40 minute long death arias are not my thing; lovely costumes, but the first half was better than the second


• Arabella -- a German comedic opera that I loved! This is one of my favorites


• Macbeth -- Italian, so even more dramatic than the original. Julie first kicked during this opera! I enjoyed it, but I was so, so tired that night.


• The Magic Flute -- a spectacle indeed with innovative staging. Perfectly fine but not a stand-out for me


• Hansel and Gretel -- so excited to see this, and so disappointed in the end. The best part is that it was short. Oh, and there was some good dancing too.


• The Manchurian Candidate -- in English, based on the book, and pretty awesome. Different for an opera


• Carmen -- I so wanted to like this, and I was underwhelmed. The two main leads didn't have any chemistry. But the music was great!


• Ariadne auf Naxos -- first half was good, and the second half was less good


• Rusalka -- a Hungarian opera and a tragic version of little mermaid. I loved this one! Starred the lovely Kelly Kaduce, who is my favorite Minnesota Opera singer we've seen


• Tosca -- brilliant!

Joy

After school sometimes, when Matt has picked up Julie, he'll bring her to my classroom if I've been slow getting out of there as I finish up work. The joy on my little girl's face as she runs into my room and rushes to give me a big hug is unparalleled. This is the best part of motherhood so far.

Today, I had a coworker come check in with me right as I finished class. I had two small tasks to finish, but he needed help, so I stayed to work with him too. Around 4.40, my two loves came into the room. Julie bounced over and jumped into my arms (well, jumped as reasonably well as a non-quite-2 year old can jump). I received a giant hug and a face full of smiles.

Then, after, she happily helped Matt feed my classroom fish. She is mesmerized by them. "Pinch, pinch" she'll say as she gives them a little pinch of food at the top of the tank. I've got three fish with goldfish: a 40 gallon tank with one massive fish ("Goldie"), a 10 gallon tank with three medium-small fish, and a 10 gallon tank with 20 small fish. She makes the rounds and chatters about the different fish sizes: "small!" stated so exuberantly.

I hope she can bring this joy to all the tasks of her life. When I'm not tired and overwhelmed with the amount of work, this is the joy I love to bring to my own daily tasks. Hoping that I can plan some this summer so that my next school year is not quite so grueling (this has been a rough year with some class switches mid-fall, so I've got a new prep and a lot on my plate). But having my little one brings the most joy of all. I feel blessed beyond measure.

We ate dinner in the dining hall and then walked back home. Julie alternate between holding my hand, running ahead, and wanting to be held. We went home and snuggled in for reading books and Facetime with Nana. A wonderful counterpart to a full day of work.

Plus, a semi-related final note I can't add in any better way: I am thrilled to say that Julie has finally popped out her last molar. We've had three months of fussy nights, random bites, and lots of ibuprofen/tylenol before bedtime. Seemingly by magic, last Friday night, I forgot to give the tylenol and it didn't matter. All four of those pain machines are finally out! I am beyond thrilled. I already notice her mood is even more joyful!