My Own Interview with ... Hamlet!

The beauty of writing a blog is that you never know who reads it!
Something really wonderful happened yesterday. I was contacted by a lady who works with Liam Bonner (the baritone who sang Hamlet so beautifully Monday night) and was offered to do a phone interview with the artist! What could be more unexpected and welcomed than an opportunity to ask an amazing opera singer my own questions?!
It was all lined up very fast and the interview took place today, at 2:00 p.m.
Mr. Bonner was very nice and easy to talk to. We talked for about half an hour. First, I was just a bit nervous, but then it all went away like it always does when you get to talk to a truly intelligent and sophisticated person, if you know what I mean.
Mr. Bonner offered very interesting and deep insights of his role, the whole opera as well as opera in general.
At the end of the interview the lady asked if I would like any pictures of the production, to which I was delighted to say yes.
So, here is the plan. I will wait to get those pictures and then publish that interview write-up together with the pictures.
I do not know yet, when I will get the pictures, but please stay tuned and check in every once in a while to see if it's there yet. You won't be disappointed.
Maybe I won't shock you tomorrow in my traditional Friday Culture Shock (FCS) section, but I did shock you today, didn't I?

Happy Hamlet Birthday!

Last night was amazing!

I started my last Generation O Night with an early dinner at a relatively new Kennedy Center Roof Terrace Restaurant. The building is semi-circular and all windows, which means that it offers a breathtaking view of the Potomac River and Downtown Washington DC. (Fine print: That lady in blue is not me - I am the one very far off in the mirror taking this picture)!

I did not have a reservation, but was seated right away, and my dinner arrived shortly afterwards.

The menu that they have is musically-themed. Instead of your regular "appetizers", "entrees" and "desserts" they have Prelude, Interlude, Finale, and Encores.

So, I had Gnocchi with wild mushrooms from the Interlude (can anyone explain to me why Italian food goes so well with opera?) and Green Tea Opera Cake with a glass of Chandon rose champagne from the Encore.

After dinner I had a little time to wander around, stop by at the souvenir shop, stare at the gorgeous costume display and go out onto the balcony to enjoy the gorgeous sunset.

Then it was time to pick up my ticket at the will call window. And it certainly did not go without an adventure. With my ID ready in my hand, I came up and said my name. The window woman grabbed my ID, gave me the ticket and the ID, and then all of a sudden said pretty rudely: " Whoa, whoa - could I see that ID again?", literally grabbed it from my hand and peered into it. I remained calm and told her that my Generation O membership expired the next day. She looked at me suspiciously and said: "OK - fine!", and gave me back my ID. I paused by the window, just in case she felt like saying "sorry'' or just offer a smile. However, it quickly became clear that none of that was going to happen. Not a big deal. Nothing, or at least nothing like that, could ruin my fabulous opera night.

I had a great orchestra $190.00 seat in Row W(15),( purchased for $50.00!!!)

Everything was so close. When you sit too close to the stage, it becomes uncomfortably close, if you know what I mean. You see too much of what you should not be seeing. This time, everything was comfortably close!

Check out the ceiling pic that I took. Not like the famous Met one, but not bad anyway, right?

If you consider yourself an opera lover, you have to see Hamlet. Of course, Thomas is not Verdi or Offenbach. However, the opera definitely has its gems and deserves praise.

The production of Lyric Opera of Kansas City, directed and designed by Thaddeus Strassberger, was amazing. It was ultra-contemporary, but not just to shock the audience. It was contemporary to bring the message. Nothing was there just because - every little detail was there for a reason.

So, let me take you through the production and bring out the highlights that impressed me. I feel like writing this in the present tense, as if we are all watching it together. I guess I am still living it.

This particular Hamlet is taking place at a totalitaristic Denmark of the 50s. Every banner bears an image of an outstretched arm with a fist.

The main scenery is a half-destroyed Colosseum or theater. The background changes. It is either black, with guardsmen and the ghost walking through the dark galleries, or brightly lit with crystal chandeliers during the coronation ball, or misty bluish grey in Ophelie's madness scene.

Before I go any further, here is what Mr. Strassberger had to say about his concept of Hamlet:

Before designing the physical production, I concentrated on discovering the core conflict within Hamlet. This production centers on Hamlet's - and our own - inability to know clearly who is a "liberal" and who is a "conservative" and what that brings to bear on the world. Was Hamlet's father a totalitarian monster who had to be brought down at any cost, or rather a visionary thoughtfully leading his people to a future filled with prosperity and peace? Is his successor Claudius a liberator or a tyrannical war criminal? The question resounds loudly from the very first scene.

Hamlet doesn't see his glass as either half-full or half-empty - but rather frozen, stagnant and undrinkable, Everything that he encounters is so fraught with doubt and anxiety that action becomes impossible. The Denmark that we see through his eyes - cold unrelenting, moribund - is filled with scheming characters who incessantly demand love, political loyalty, and filial devotion.Trapped not only by the forces around him but also by his own ambivalent reaction to them, he becomes the eye of an increasingly violent storm icily swirling around him.

The first very effective scene is the Overture. The doors on both sides of the house at the mid-orchestra level open and a coffin is carried right through the house by an extensive funeral procession consisting of chorus members and supers.

Right after that a celebration for the new king starts on the stage and leaflets are tossed right onto the orchestra audience from an open door in the ceiling.

(All that was happening right where I was sitting, so as an audience member, I was feeling quite involved in the production.)

The most amazing scene is the one after Ophelie drowns.

We see a curtain that looks like pieces of a broken mirror scattered along a dark blue background. Then the curtain splits in two parts and shows Ophelie , swinging vertically against a similar broken mirror background and dreamily waving her arms in a "floating" way. Her podium or whatever she is in, is made trickily, so it imitates her dress, spread the way it would look if she were floating in the water. She sings the most beautiful aria along with a soft chorus on the background: "I hear your voice - you are there. But this is my revenge to you - you will be calling me, but I won't come - it will be too late".

We understand that we are watching her drowning and thinking her last thoughts, while her disturbed brain is still working. And then the parts of the first broken mirror curtain draw back together and the whole stage blacks out. Wow!

Let me tell you this: it's worth seeing this production just for the sake of this amazing scene.

And now to Hamlet himself.

Hamlet was sung by a young baritone Liam Bonner. He was not perfect, but he was INCREDIBLE (and I mean every one of those caps). Firstly and most importantly, he has a very beautiful voice, a "Baryton-Martin" if you will, with a lot of liquid musicality and flexibility in it. Now to this, add the most outstanding acting.

His Hamlet was passionate, emotional, cynical, sarcastic, neurotic, desperate.

He was on the stage almost the whole opera - what a vocal and artistic challenge!!! and yet he managed to be different all the time. He continued to make an impression as the opera progressed first with the famous Drinking Song and then with his To be or not to be aria.

He already sings at the Met and before we know it, I am positive, we will have a new internationally acclaimed star - Liam Bonner. Remember this name, my friends. You'll be hearing it.

As for Samuel Ramey, who sang Claudius, I have to say I was not impressed at all. His voice sounded very shaky and completely lacked elasticity. I did not think he managed to bring out the power or energy of his character.

That's the thing about opera. You never really know who is going to impress or disappoint you!

I was very happy to see Placido Domingo conducting. I was sitting so close to the pit that I really saw him. After the recent surgery that he underwent, it was nice to see him full of life and energy again. Frankly, whatever I may think about Mr. Domingo's conducting or baritone transformation, I will always be grateful to him for his Alfredo, Hoffmann and Don Jose.

Finally, the best for last, here is a sneaky pic that I took at the curtain call, but hei - cameras were flashing like crazy, so I thought why not? You can also see how great my seat was, since the picture looks so good.

So from left to right: a grave digger, the ghost, Samuel Ramey as Claudius, Elizabeth Bishop as Gertrude, Liam Bonner as Hamlet, Placido Domingo, Elizabeth Furtal as Ophelie and the other two guys are Hamlet's friends, Horatio and Marcellus.

The dressed up people on the back are actors who did the pantomime at the coronation ball.

I am very-very proud of this shot.

I have to say that yesterday was the first time I ever heard a saxophone in an opera. Guess what? Hamlet was the first opera in which saxophone was played.

Finally, another little thing that will make you all feel like you were there last night.

At the curtain call, when Placido Domingo came out onto the stage, Liam Bonner "invited" him to stand between himself and Elizabeth Bishop (Gertrude) to which Mr. Domingo gesticulated like " Well, how about I stand between Hamlet and Ophelie - wouldn't it make more sense?", to which Liam Bonner laughed and gesticulated like he thought it was a great idea. Those little curtain call talks...somehow they get stuck in our memory, don't they?)

All in all, it was a very beautiful and memorable evening.

Happy Birthday to me!

FCS: Of Music, Art and Baseball

Of Music:
Troy did not waste this week for nothin' - he used it wisely to figure out where all the good music is coming from - Mommy's car, of course, once she hits the button.
So all week long, every morning, as soon as we are buckled up and ready to go , he starts pointing to the button with the most intense look on his face accompanied by persistent whining, until... I hit the button.
We are still listening to Orphee. Once I switch to another CD, he listens for just a bit and starts whining and only calms down if he hears Orphee. Incredible as Juan Diego's voice is, he can't take all the credit for Troy's admiration - a lot of it goes to Gluck, since my son is also happy to listen to the aria of Amor Cet Asile Aimanle et Tranquille, beautifully sung by Alexandra Marianelli, as well as all the wonderful choruses.
L'Amour triomphe (the final chorus) still remains his absolute favorite. He must be really into it's happy marching rhythm. Yesterday, while listening to it in the car, he started clapping along with the rhythm. It was very interesting, especially since he changed the rhythm along with the music. Later the same night, he was sitting in his high chair, while I was fixing his dinner and singing that piece. Suddenly, I saw Troy hitting the table top with his hand, in perfect sync with my voice! And so we continued that way. I was doing the singing - he was doing the beat. I wish I had means to express how excited he was to make that "music" himself. It sounded really cool.

Of Art:
I guess I have to remind my readers that Troy is very much into art. He must be taking it from my Mom, who is a professional artist and art historian. He has not been introduced to a lot of art yet, but when he was 9 months old Mom and I took him to BMA to see some Matisse. Even before that he loved to look through his Matisse book that we have at home.
Especially recently, the minute we come home he grabs his Matisse book and starts looking through it and showing his favorites to us.
Two weeks ago he started drawing with crayons, or shall I still say coloring?
First, his lines were very shy, but soon he started applying a lot of pressure to those crayons and draw thick bright lines. One can easily tell he is right-handed, because even if he grabs a crayon with his left hand, he immediately transfers it into his right hand. At the beginning, he was holding his crayons too low, so the tips were completely hidden inside his hand and he could not draw. I told myself that I was not going to tell him anything and would wait until he figured out how to fix that problem. So he just tried to draw a couple of times more like that and saw that nothing was happening. Then suddenly he noticed a long crayon end sticking out on top of his hand. The next thing he did was to push it down with his other hand and try to make a line. It worked!(of course) He was so happy. He got all hoppy and smily.
Ever since, he either lets his fingers loose, so the crayon could slide down, or with the most serious face and a lifted eyebrow, pushes that end down, like he did the first time.
So tomorrow, as a Mother's Day rain check, Mom, Troy and myself are going to BMA again!!! I think this time he will get much more out of it.

Of Baseball:
We usually take stroller walks near a local middle school. That area is very nice. It has a little wood, a brook, a little lake and a big green field. Very often we see a team of 5-6 year olds playing baseball. The team is being coached by several dads. Those kids are amazing!
To be honest with you, I have never been a baseball fan. However, I started warming up towards this sport after I saw those kids practicing.
Troy just loves watching them.
So my husband and I thought it might be a good idea to take him to a baseball game.
Last Sunday, May 16th, Troy went to his first ever real baseball game!!! Before the game started, I took him to the souvenir shop and got him his first orange and black (Orioles colors) baseball hat! It was a little too big for him, but little did he care! He was so excited and proud to be wearing it, just like everyone else at the stadium!
This time the Star Spangled Banner was sung by Danny Gokey, the previous (and the only one I ever watched) season of American Idol contestant. Quite a famous guy! He sang well and Troy was all ears and was listening with all his attention.
He was very much into the game too, always looking in the right place, clapping together with everyone else, smiling and looking around with a lot of interest.
We stayed for about an hour, which was plenty for him. He is only 15 months old after all.
Needless to say, we took a bunch of good pictures and ate greasy hot dogs. It was a fine classic family day!

Inspiration Bug

All right, where do I start?
There must have been something in the air yesterday, because all of a sudden, I got an inspiration bug. This came really handy, since we had a quarterly birthday party in one of my buildings and inspiration was much needed. Please bear with me a little longer to learn where that bug took me.
When it comes to parties, I am The Jack of All Trades. Usually I run the whole thing, from party set-up, to booking and bringing in entertainers, to ordering refreshments and birthday cake. I even serve drinks before the party. Before we go any further, I have to say that it's a lot of work and responsibility requiring a lot of creativity, supervision, monitoring and delegating.
I like my job, and parties are one of my favorite things about it. Especially, if/when nothing bothers me on the side. Yesterday, though, was extremely hard , because that party was my second event of the day. However, with thorough planning and good time management, it is all doable.
The party started at 6:00 p.m. and my ever favorite singer and entertainer, Lorna Terry, was performing. She is a gorgeous African American with a huge powerful voice and a very inspiring personality. She has performed both nationwide and in Europe, and has recently recorded her first CD. She only uses a microphone when she has a cold. Otherwise, she just sings and the windows shake from the resonance. Well, you get the idea.
However, it's also her beautiful personality that captures the audience and does not let go for one second. There is so much light, wisdom and universal kindness about Lorna. She just loves to make people happy!

Anyway, the party was a great success. The residents were up on their feet dancing in pairs and circles and giving Lorna a standing ovation. Then the English-speaking part of the audience (mind you, not the Russian-speaking one) had a sudden desire for a Russian song. Lorna was looking through her files but could not find anything popular. So then, yours truly, still infected with that bug that was mentioned earlier, said: Ok, Lorna - let me sing them a Russian song.
And with a microphone in her hand, said: All right, you asked for it and sang my favorite Russian traditional song "Metelitsa" (The Snow Storm).
The song is very romantic. It's about a young man walking along the snowed up street and seeing a young girl, who instantly captures his heart with her beauty. And all he can say is "Pause for a moment, beautiful girl, let me once again look at your beauty!"
This song has kind of been the song of my life. I have sung it on quite a few important occasions.

All I knew was that there was a complete silence in the room while I was singing (not a typical thing, for seniors happily talk through anything) and so much emotion on people's faces. I caught myself going into a couple of diminuendos and crescendos to add special accents and meaning to certain parts of the song.
Unfortunately, I could not stay completely calm and at the beginning felt like my heart was pounding right inside my throat. However, as I progressed, I was getting more and more into the song and into the pure love it was describing.
One thing was certain, I have put a lot of heart into my singing and ended up having tears in my eyes.
The whole crowd of 26 was extremely moved. They applauded and screamed Brava, while I was still trying to catch my breath.
They are still talking about it today. I heard several "Raisa has such a pretty voice", "She sang so beautifully last night" and "Yes, she sure can sing" comments today. And those people had no idea I heard them.
Frankly, I did it as a joke, but I saw that I touched people's hearts in some way and hopefully, in a positive way.

A Lot to Look Forward to!

On Tuesday, May 25th, according to the wonderful WNO's Generation O program (the one that sells great orchestra seats at $25.00-50.00 to people 18-35) I am done being young - I will turn 36!

36??? Really?

To be honest with you all, little do I worry about numbers. I do not think numbers, nor do I live my life by them.

Like my mom says, it's not the number that makes you old, it's what you have accomplished by that number. If you have done something important in your life, you are still --( insert your number in the blank). If you have just wasted your life, you are already --.

I am blessed to have several people and things in my life to make me feel still 36 - so it's all good.

Back to Generation O, yours truly will have a chance to use it one more time on ... buckle up, you all - Monday, May 24th, going to Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet!!!

Does it feel like jumping into the train going at full speed or what?

Somebody joked that I am a risk-taker to be cutting that close and that should the show last till midnight, WNO has an official right to kick me out of my $190.00 ( purchased for $50.00 orchestra seat). The good news is that the performance will end around 10 p.m., so there - I will even have time to stay for the curtain call!

What better pre-birthday evening could I possibly have?

Today I learned that this CD is getting released on May 25th!

Now it's available for pre-ordering on amazon.com.

So this year, I do have a lot to look forward to for my birthday!

A Very Important Poll

Sometimes, especially, when I do not get that many comments after my posts, I start thinking that perhaps I overload my readers with updates about Troy and his response to music. I know that you are all so nice, but I would like some feedback (whatever it might be) about what I do. So, on the right margin of the blog, I have posted a poll for you all to vote. The question is Should I start a separate blog for Troy or should I continue writing Troy-related stuff here?

Please vote.
It's going to be very helpful, fast, anonymous and most importantly ( I promise!) - free.
Thank you all in advance, and remember, every single voice makes a difference!

FCS: Gluck Would Be Happy...

...to see this amazing illustration of his work!
Personally I just want to freeze and stare...
Who needs words when art is so powerful?Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld by Jean Baptist Camille Corot.

Enjoy!

(Just got a print of this painting for Troy to put up in his room, since he is crazy about every minute of the opera!)

A Plagiarist or a Borrower?

One of the things that I like most about my blog is that every once in a while it takes me down the paths I never thought of going, sending me on exciting musical journeys. I am very grateful to you, my readers, for reading and commenting on my blog, for you are the ones who empower me to do research, to grow and become more knowledgeable about music.

A couple of posts ago I was comparing and contrasting Gluck's Orphee et Eurydice (further referred to as OE) and Mozart's Magic Flute (further referred to as MF). It was not meant to be a deep analysis. I just mentioned a couple of similarities that I noticed in the music and the plots. Then one of you asked me a couple of follow-up questions about Mozart's originality and influences on his works, thus inspiring me to do some thorough research. So I picked up and studied some materials about Gluck and Mozart and found quite a bit of interesting information.

But first things first - a fine print disclaimer:

Mozart has been and will always be a genius composer of all times and for all nations.
In my opinion, his genius lies in the complex simplicity (an oxymoron, I know) of his music.

And now - back to music.

I have to state right here and now that borrowing and quoting were very common in the 18th century music world. You all probably know that Baroque composers paid each other to write arias for each other's operas. Nevertheless, the opera would still be considered to have been composed by the one who wrote most of it, which the contributor did not mind at all. Even much later, in the 19th century, way before he got famous, young Rossini, would compose an aria and sell it to a popular composer, so the latter could include it in his opera. The job was well paid and mostly beneficial for his financial situation.

Going back to Mozart, we do hear some of the OE's tunes in MF, but the most we can talk about here is borrowing some musical ideas, some music lines perhaps, but nothing bigger than that.

Plotwise, however, I guess, it would be safe to say that Mozart's MF was not original.

First of all, the very theme of a hero going to a fantasy world to rescue his beloved is very common in early opera history. Plus, composers just loved to base their operas on mythological plots. Baroque audiences were fascinated with far-away lands, luxurious palaces and temples, fancy costumes and sparkly jewels. Therefore, it should not be surprising that Mozart chose a bit of an exotic plot for his opera.

A while before he wrote the MF, Mozart happened to attend an opera composed by several composers ( and thus not claimed by anyone in particular), called Beneficent Dervish. He must have been really impressed by it, because his MF has exactly the same plot!
Both Dervish and MF feature princes as their protagonists and their jester side-kicks. In Dervish we meet Mandolino ( with a set of magic bells!!!) and Mandolina, who in MF become Papageno and Papagena.
Ironically, we might have never learned about the very existence of Beneficent Dervish, had Mozart not composed his opera on the same plot.
Someone once said that a copy can never be better than the original. In Mozart's case it turned out that it can.

As for the plot of OE versus MF, pay attention to the fact that both Orphee and Tamino, besides the tough journeys that they have undertaken, have to undergo the trial of silence. In their turn, both Eurydice and Pamina take it that their guys fell out of love and seek death as the best solution to the problem.

It's also interesting how the importance of music is emphasized in both operas. Orphee gets to conquer the Underworld inhabitants with his voice and lyre. Prince Tamino's magic flute first takes him to Pamina and later through his trials. Even Papageno's bells are magic and almost help him and Pamina escape from Sarastro's palace.


But let us be fair to Mozart and not accuse him of plagiarism!
Just think about how many composers before and after him used plots that had already been used for their operas. After all, before there was Gluck's OE, there was Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and after Gluck's OE there was Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. Verdi composed his Otello after Rossini's and Rossini - his Armida after Gluck's. And believe me, I could keep going for hours. Apparently, once a composer felt like he had something new to say to people through his music, it did not really matter if the plot had been used before or not.

And what does the plot have to do with it anyway? The music is different, so it's a different opera, right?

So there, I guess I made my point. Mozart, did borrow musical ideas and plots from other composers, however, that does not make him a plagiarist and certainly does not take away from his music. There is enough originality and magic in that music to stay in human hearts both in the past and for years to come.

Happy Mother's Day!

Our big Mother's Day plans got literally "rained out" by Troy's extensive runny nose accompanied by fever that he developed yesterday. This morning he is feeling a lot better, thus, I got an abundant serenade of MAMAmamamaMAmamama-ma-ma-mamamamamama-mamamamamamamama!!!and a happy smile to go with it. He is still trying to get his strength back, by resting a lot and eating more, but that serenade made my day.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Cheers to all the light that kids bring into our lives!

FCS: A Good Goode Movie

This week I saw a brand new 2010 movie Leap Year and am recommending it to you all, dear readers. Great story, both hilarious and a little bit sad at times, romantic beyond words (romantic, but not mushy) and has the happiest of endings. It's not a chick flick, rather your perfect date movie. Great cast too: Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. She is good and he is so much better than good!
Therefore, here comes a question: What does it take to play a simple man?
The answer is : Intellect.
If I write another word, I'll give out the story. So there, a short post for a change. Enjoy!
Note to self: Go to Ireland - it's beautiful!

Orphee: Insights and Plans

I am officially and most unconditionally in love with Orphee et Eurydice. The more I listen to the opera, the more brilliant and absolutely unmatchable pieces I discover. Gluck keeps me steadily stunned through the whole opera.
Yesterday, I went online to read about this opera (when you are in love you want to know more about, in Gluck’s words, objet de votre amour, no?)
Of course, I realize that anyone can do exactly that, so I won’t bore you with too many details.

I will say, however, that Gluck was the major source of inspiration, so to speak, for very many opera composers. Numerous, later written operas, such as The Magic Flute, Fidelio, Das Rheingold sprang from Orphee both plot-wise and music-wise. I know it’s hard to believe that Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner – the three colossuses of classical music - were actually heavily influenced by Gluck's musical originality.
Did I not just mention Beethoven in reference of that a couple of posts ago?
Having recently listened to quite a bit of the Magic Flute and Orphee almost simultaneously, I had a chance to compare and contrast both operas, and I must say that some of the Flute’s magic can be attributed to the magic of Orphee. Both Magic Flute final choruses in Ac1 Es lebe Sarastro! and in Act 2 Die Strahlen der Sonne much resemble L’Amour triomphe, the final chorus in Orphee.
Mozart’s music is really catchy. For someone who can carry a tune it does not take much to hum most arias and duets. Some of Gluck’s music is harder to sing.
But the music itself…
I could write about it the whole day and still not make half of my points!
That music is miraculously vivid and illustrative: it paints incredible scenes and is very empowering for one’s imagination. Once Orphee finds himself in Hades you literally hear and see the huge dark rocks narrowing around him. You hear him going down the river, or looking up at the deceivingly gleaming sky. You do not need translation to understand what is going on in this or that scene. You can hear all that and you are stunned: Gluck was one of the earlierst opera composers, and look what a work of art he created!
In my opinion, it’s a perfect opera for a kid. Beautiful music. Simple story. Only 3 characters – easy to remember! Just give him a hint and let him listen. He’ll pick up on the rest of it on his own.
Speaking of kids, at the moment mine is going crazy about L’Amour triomphe, the final chorus of the opera. No surprise there. That chorus is one of the best pieces in the opera. It’s filled with happiness through and through. It’s pretty funny though how he is such a baby in some things and such a grown-up in others. He enjoys classical music like a grown-up, except that occasionally he does it with a pacifier in his mouth. How do these things go together – I don’t know.
This morning we got stuck in the traffic and he made me play L'Amour triomphe for him 8 times. In a row. Every time he would clap his hands, smile and hop to the music. Then, I brought him to my mom, and while I was driving off, he was waving to me from his stroller, as usual. However, this time I played the chorus again and opened the window for him to hear it. He stretched his neck, trying to see where the music was coming from, then figured out it was coming from Mommy’s car and started clapping happily. I was very touched to see that.

It would be so nice to teach this opera to my seniors one day. However, to make it happen I need 2 major things. Firstly and most importantly, I need to learn so much more about Gluck myself. Inspired and passionate as I am, I definitely lack solid knowledge of the subject. Secondly, I have to find a good Orphee DVD. We’ll see what becomes available. It’s not going to be soon anyway, because learning is the priority and takes time. However, as I learn, I promise to share my info acquisitions here, on this blog. And who knows, maybe by the time I am ready, someone will think to make an opera movie with the same brilliant cast.

The Magic of the Magic Flute

I guess I am the only person out there in the blogger world, who has not yet mentioned The Magic Flute in her blog. Not one single time in two years of this blog's existence! I mean, seriously, not only people write posts about this particular opera - some devote their blogs to it.

Please, do not think that I do not like it, because I really do. This opera has a long history and a very special place in my life.

When in 2000 I moved across the ocean on my own, I found myself all alone in an unknown country. Of course, I spoke the language well enough to start grad school at the glorious College Notre Dame of MD immediately upon my arrival. I had never been busier: studying full time, attending driving school classes, working on campus every other morning, babysitting 6 hours a day, writing papers and getting ready for tests. I had very nice classmates and the most wonderful professors. However, at times, it seemed like I had no connection whatsoever with the world around me. Because that world around me was so different. People were different. Houses were different. Children were different. English was different: for goodness sake, my perfect British spelling was heavily rejected by the Microsoft Word spell check!!! The climate was different. And even the sky - was different.

Being quite a self-sufficient person, I rarely mind being by myself. I never need company to entertain me. But here it was different. My loneliness was getting global.

When put in uncomfortable situations, most people tend to look for a getaway, for an oasis, so to speak, where they could feel comfortable again.

My comfort oasis at that time was the library of CND. The contemporary designed building was all made of glass and offered beautiful, almost romantic views from every side. There were large desks in front of huge wall-size windows, and really small ones in little niches in front of tall narrow windows. You could grab a book and get completely lost in that niche. It was wonderful.

Along with wonderful classical literature that I read a lot at that time, I soon discovered the audio/video lab. It was the cave of Ali-Baba. You name it - they had it. Every opera you could think of - actually several different video and audio recordings of each! You could borrow anything from the lab and enjoy it at home or watch and listen right in the lab.

I came to the USA with an idea that I am very familiar with classical music. However, my visits to that lab made me realize that I still had a long way to go before I could say that out loud. The more I listened and watched the more I got into it. Those VHS tapes and CDs became my friends and my companions that I missed so much away from home.

It was then that I discovered the Magic Flute. Don't misunderstand me. I actually saw the opera live once back in my childhood days, but the discovery took place in the CND lab.

Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December (sorry, folks, but the quote comes in so handy: December it was and pretty bleak too. And being a Baltimorean, shouldn't I reserve the right to quote the Raven as much as and whenever I want to, anyway?) That magic music was a perfect match with that bleak December, dark tree silhouettes, bare hills, a never freezing brook underneath a steel gray sky. Somehow the unmatchable matched. Somehow the imaginary kingdom transferred to my reality and made the reality look more like the magic kingdom. Maybe because I needed more positive and magic in my life at that time. I could not get enough of that music. I even remember exercising and jogging to it. Try that - it sounds crazy, but it works fine. Anything the Magic Flute 'touched' became more positive and more beautiful. That opera was literally improving my life.

By now you might be wondering why on earth I waited so long to post about the Magic Flute, if it means so much to me?

Here is why. Seeing how well my son responded to classical music I thought it was time to introduce him to this opera. I also thought it would make more sense for me to write about it now, that I look at it again together with him and much through his eyes.

So I went on amazon.com and did some thorough sampling. All right, before you all start telling me that Nathan Gunn is the best Papageno and that the ultimate Magic Flute is the one with him in it - I know, he is great. That video is great too, and I am well aware of it. However, when it comes to the Magic Flute, I somehow tend to be on a more conservative side and kind of prefer the old school for that particular opera. I do not have a good explanation why, but it just seems so right to have an old performance of a fairy tale. I guess it adds to the magic. You know how sometimes it's more pleasant to read an old library book of Jane Austen with brown pages and that distinct library smell, rather than a gorgeous new limited edition. So, after a thorough search, I got this 1955 recording and I love it!

We started listening to CD1 yesterday and I can tell Troy likes Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön, (Leopold Simoneau, my friends!!!),

Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen ,

Schnelle Füße, rascheer Mut (that's the one with the bells, remember?) That piece is so fairy-talish and so appealing to a kid. Running off while the servants of mean Sarastro are hypnotized to dance to the magic bells??? What can be more fun?

Of course, we have a beautiful Magic Flute picture book at home that we look through and talk. Just starting now. Of course, I could not help ordering the famous Ingrid Bergman's Magic Flute, which takes forever to arrive. There is no rush though, I still might wait a while before I show it to Troy. Great as it is, it is definitely for an older viewer.

It is funny how both operas that Troy and I have recently turned to are so much alike in the way both romantic heroes (Orphee and Tamino) are searching for their beloved. Both set on their quests on foot with a musical instrument in their hands. The idea is the same too: nothing can resist true love and the beauty of music!

Tr-O(y)-rphee

Well, most of you will think that what I am going to write here is the fruit of my imagination, which is OK ( I mean to think that). However, trust me, my imagination stayed out of it.

Yesterday morning I played a couple of pieces from Orphee to Troy while we were driving. As soon as he heard the end of Laissez-vous toucher, he started singing in his usual way, except that it sounded a lot like he was copying Juan Diego's singing. So I told myself: Nah - impossible. Who could ever copy that? Never mind. He is just singing like he always does.

In the afternoon mom and I went shopping and of course, brought Troy with us. Because my mom loves classical music as much as I do, I could not wait to brag my new CD to her and play all the best pieces. When it came to the end of Laissez-vous toucher, it sounded like Troy started copying that singing again.

So I told myself - I am not saying a word. Let me see if mom will notice anything. As soon as I thought that, mom said : "Look what he is doing - he is trying to sing it, and it sounds like it too."

So she heard that.

A friend of mine used to be a children's psychologist back in Russia. I told her this and said that I understand that she might not believe it. She said that it's not that unbelievable and that quite often toddlers amaze us by doing very complicated things just because they do not realize how complicated those things are. She also said that the role of a parent is to pay close attention to those things and develop their children in those directions.

Today, not for the first time, we were reading the Orphee et Eurydice book (which, as you may remember, means me telling it to Troy in fewer and simpler words and matching pictures with aria pieces sung in my own kitchen-level way). It works great though: I sing quietly and hit all the right notes, and he likes it. It's very interactive, game-like and educational.