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| Ugh |
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| But look, treasure! |
I also found some more streetside poems at the light rail station. I am ordering them from my least favourite to most favourite.
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| Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?? |
Also this week I found a winged carrot in my bag of carrots. Before anyone rolls their eyes and thinks how pathetic I am for posting pictures of a carrot on my blog, please refer to the blog's title for a disclaimer.
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| Backside |
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| Belly up |
Ash Wednesday was this week as well. I had a dress rehearsal right after Mass, and everyone was asking me what the smudge on my head was. "You mean people actually DO that??" Yes, yes we do. "Does it have special powers or something?" No, no it does not. "What is it for?" It's a symbol for repentance. "Repentance for what?" And that's when I look them straight in the eye and say: I'll tell you my sins if you tell me yours. This is usually enough to make someone stop laughing at me.
On the way to the abovementioned dress rehearsal, I had an interesting experience. I offered to buy a sandwich for a homeless dude, and he asked if I would buy him some tomato soup. So we went into Walgreens and I got the soup and ran into two MALE colleagues, whom the homeless dude greeted (collectively) as "Jennifer". Then as we were leaving, he turned to the three of us students with a huge grin on his face and announced that he was the greatest warrior who ever lived. He then walked away in triumph. I may start buying soup for local bums more often.
Thursday night I stayed up until 1:30 reading a book Maddy lent me.
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| THIS IS A BRILLIANT BOOK |
This weekend....finally, finally, FINALLY.....was the SFCM baroque ensemble's production of Serse, by G.F. Handel. My first full-length opera performance, my first baroque opera, and what better way to start? We have been working towards this since December. Much blood has been spilled, many tears shed, but we have got here at last!! The opera is three hours long (3.5 with two intermissions) and I loved every minute of it (ok, some minutes more than others).
What follows will be mostly nerdy ravings over various aspects of the opera and detailed descriptions of things that happened during the performances. If this is not your cup of tea, feel free to stop reading the post now. I won't be offended. Again, see title for disclaimer.
There were two different casts for the two performances (Saturday and Sunday). Each cast had its own chemistry. About halfway through the first act on Saturday, Kristina's E string broke, and halfway through the second act on Sunday, Maddy's E string broke. What made it funny was that both times, it happened during a recitative, so we weren't even playing. We were just sitting there holding the violins, and suddenly *SNAP* *GASP* Quickly, hand it to the ringer who has a spare and knows what he's doing. FYI trying to put on a gut string is no joke. It's not at all like restringing a modern violin. Unfortunate that it happened in both performances, but not unexpected.
For me, the turn-on moment came near the beginning of the first performance. It was when the audience unexpectedly laughed at one line, and I realized, "They like it! They really LIKE it!!" From then on I no longer felt like I had to convince the audience of the music's worth, to apologize for its length and repetitive nature. They know its worth, that's why they came. They're here to be entertained, not to pass judgement. They came to enjoy, not to criticize. They know exactly what to expect from a Handel opera, and that's what they love, and all I have to do is say, "Wait til you hear THIS one!! You're gonna love this one!"
I had a great time watching the cast (who did a superb acting job) and reading the supertitles to figure out what was actually going on in the story. All the characters in both performances were very strong, but I have to say that I found the title character the most compelling in terms of music, acting and sheer personality, especially with the Saturday night singer. I suppose that's why he's the title character. Serse is a cruel, self-centred tyrant, the King of Persia, and he thinks he can have whatever he wants, at least until his conversion in the final scene. At times he displays insight which fosters respect and allows us to sympathize with him, which makes his arrogance even more effective.
What clinched him for me was his final "Rage Aria" when he discovers that the woman he has been pursuing for the entire opera has married her true love instead - who also happens to be Serse's brother. Oh, how furious he is! The jealous, selfish, arrogant tyrant in all his cruel glory!! "Savage furies from the hideous abyss, pour out your black poison upon me!!" "Let my wrath spew forth and cave in the world and eclipse the sun!!" Wow!! The shivers! I had shivers up and down my entire body for the full length of that aria!!
Here it is! In case you're wondering why a woman is singing - Serse is a trouser role, meaning that it was originally written for castrato. But we don't do that now so we use mezzos instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sDqqoRtXc (copy and paste)
Can you hear those downward flourishes in the violins? That's the black poison pouring down upon Serse!! Handel is such a master at word painting. I find myself constantly surprised throughout the opera by how literal the music is.
Anyway, I've picked up some Italian lately and can't stop myself from singing "CRUDE FURIE DEGLI'ORRIDI ABISSI!!"
Oh yeah, and then right after the baroque opera I went and played modern violin in the school concerto competition and broke my own modern E string in the middle of the second movement. The judges let me rush backstage and borrow an E from a colleague. Why didn't I have a spare? Well, that WAS my spare, which I put on less than a week ago.......
- Antisocial Violinist
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