Couple weeks back Jon and Susanne were over for dinner; they've been attending most of this year's perfomances and thought it a tragedy that we hadn't seen any. They suggested we all do an evening at the Apprentice Scenes, so we booked seats.
Last night, the clouds encircled town in the afternoon, but the rain didn't actually start until we were driving up there at 6:30.
It wasn't actually that bad, not as windy and cold as feared for tailgating (with Jon's pickup, we had an actual tailgate). And there was only a few minutes there where we had to pull out the umbrellas out over hors d'oevres; luckily, we still had the old Traveler's one. By the time we were into the pan bagna that Monica made, the little drizzle wasn't a problem.
There was a bit of time for people-watching, then to our seats. The single (cheap) price for all tickets meant that we had better ones than we would've even gotten for an opera. The Apprentice Scenes are, just that — performances by participants in the Apprentice Program. They're singers, technicians, costume designers, everything.
Two "acts," each with four scenes from assorted operas; two hours total with intermission. Most of the scenes were in English, which was a little disappointing, but it was a fun, fast-paced evening. Not really an opera experience, because everything was so brief and minimal. But the whole evening was most definitely a great Santa Fe Opera experience.
Addendum: so I can remember when I'm checking the blog next year, the performances were Little Women by Mark Adamo, Act I, Scene 1; La Fille Du Régiment by Gaetono Donizetti, Marie/Tonio duet; Antony and Cleopatra by Samuel Barber, Act I, Scene 1; I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Nedda! Silvio! Duet; The Tender Land by Aaron Copeland, Act II, Duet; Vanessa by Samuel Barber, Act 1, Scene 2; Werther by Jules Massenet, Act II, Street Scene by Kurt Weill, Ice Cream Sextet
3 comments:
It looks as if classic Travelers umbrellas, like classic VW Beetles, survive better in the dry, southwestern high desert.
Oh, "opera, again"--now there's a phrase I have never had the occasion to use! That's a pretty whimsical photo, capturing the way opera is experienced in your part of the state, with a tailgate picnic on an actual pickup tailgate.
Thank you for sharing this experience.
I know, right? I mean, last year was fun and all, but it didn't lead to any immediate plans to return. But we're on for next year's Apprentice Scenes at the very least.
And, yeah, the umbrella's lasting, good 'cause there's no more once it's gone. I can't think of the last time it saw the light of day (or ... gray of rain) here in the desert. It's possible that it's only been used to ward off rain by carrying it along.
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