Andréa Chénier
Gift: €15
Postcards: €1.60
My share of pumpkin pie fillings: €2
Pre-class sturm: €2
Voice Lesson €50 (free after rebate)
Total Cost of Andréa Chénier: €4.40
A full day: hectic.
First was the AA&A tour of the baroque section of the Lower Belvedere, which was tons of fun. Afterwards I loitered with Gretchen in the gift shop to find a gift for Andrew's parents.....I got something, but I think I'm actually going to get them something else....we'll see. Then, Gretchen accompanied on my little search for the knitting shop I've seen on the Wiedner Hauptstraße....we didn't find after walking around for a while, but we did find a little stall that was selling Punsch for €2, so we said YES and had a cup of delicious orange Punsch before she suggested that we head over to Bobby's supermarket, which sells a bunch of imported stuff from the UK and America for the ex-pats, mostly....it was great to in and hear the shopkeepers greet us and converse solely in English...anyway, when we walked in we saw three magic ingredients sitting by their lonesomes on a table in the middle of an aisle: pumpkin pie fililng, pie crust, and condensed milk. Sure enough, these were the Ausländer ingredients required to make something which I sorely missed on Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie!!!! So, without a second's hesitation, Gretchen and I purchased enough for two pies with the plan to make them on Thursday night, which was already designated as Bridget Jones's Diary night for her and I and Dave and Mike. (where we watch the whole movie...not just the Colin Firth parts like when Gretchen watches it with me....) After making the (rather expensive: each pie cost €8) purchase, she went home and I headed back to IES for to print out (and learn) my Purcell for my voice lesson this afternoon.....after some initial frustrations (which always accompany any printing experience) I went to class, and then straight from there to Michelle's place for my lesson. My lesson was OK.....I've definitely had better....she took me up to my falsetto, but somehow I scratched something and after that I had a lingering itch and cough whenever I sang anything.....I can't figure out why....I think I was pushing too much up at the top and trying to vibrate...whatever. The Purcell is such a great piece, and she got all excited as I was singing it...I mean, unlike the silly duets that she's heard me do, and the utterly simplistic Mozart concert aria she's also having me do, the Purcell is music that I can really get into. It's a great piece, as I mentioned.....
After my lesson I rushed over to the Staatsoper to see Andréa Cheniér, since today was the only possible day I could have seen it. I got there at about 6:20, so the line had already bought their tickets and everyone was waiting to go inside. I hastily bought my ticket for Galerie...so hastily, in fact, that when I paid for the €2 ticket with a €10 note the woman (who I'd never seen there before, incidentally) gave me back five €2 coins, so the ticket was free! I didn't realize it until I was already in line to go in, and I didn't feel too bad about keeping it....they've taken enough of my money over the months.....considering I was there so late the line was RIDICULOUSLY short.....I not many people ever show up for the Wednesday night operas...in any case I saw Ann right in front of me, literally, so we stood together and got great second-row spots in the middle-right section.....for reference, I would have to get there 2.5-3 hours early to get the same spots on a Friday or Saturday night.
The opera itself was quite good......it started off interersting, but got more and more melodramatic until the ridiculous ending, where the lovers (who barely know each other) choose death by the French revolutionaries rather than separation....well, he was going to die anyway, but she sacrificed herself so that she could die with him......it was insane. In the beginning it just seemed like it was going to be a normal opera with a bit of a political slant, but by the end it was almost Wagnerian in it's grand and far-flung emotional content with no basis on how real people act.....and José Cura being as loud as possible all the time didn't help either....I love his voice, but a lot of the time it's just a bit much. The soprano was good....I can't remember her name. It was still fun, though, and there were some absolutely glorious musical moments.
After the opera I went home, did some homework, and went to bed.
Postcards: €1.60
My share of pumpkin pie fillings: €2
Pre-class sturm: €2
Voice Lesson €50 (free after rebate)
Total Cost of Andréa Chénier: €4.40
A full day: hectic.
First was the AA&A tour of the baroque section of the Lower Belvedere, which was tons of fun. Afterwards I loitered with Gretchen in the gift shop to find a gift for Andrew's parents.....I got something, but I think I'm actually going to get them something else....we'll see. Then, Gretchen accompanied on my little search for the knitting shop I've seen on the Wiedner Hauptstraße....we didn't find after walking around for a while, but we did find a little stall that was selling Punsch for €2, so we said YES and had a cup of delicious orange Punsch before she suggested that we head over to Bobby's supermarket, which sells a bunch of imported stuff from the UK and America for the ex-pats, mostly....it was great to in and hear the shopkeepers greet us and converse solely in English...anyway, when we walked in we saw three magic ingredients sitting by their lonesomes on a table in the middle of an aisle: pumpkin pie fililng, pie crust, and condensed milk. Sure enough, these were the Ausländer ingredients required to make something which I sorely missed on Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie!!!! So, without a second's hesitation, Gretchen and I purchased enough for two pies with the plan to make them on Thursday night, which was already designated as Bridget Jones's Diary night for her and I and Dave and Mike. (where we watch the whole movie...not just the Colin Firth parts like when Gretchen watches it with me....) After making the (rather expensive: each pie cost €8) purchase, she went home and I headed back to IES for to print out (and learn) my Purcell for my voice lesson this afternoon.....after some initial frustrations (which always accompany any printing experience) I went to class, and then straight from there to Michelle's place for my lesson. My lesson was OK.....I've definitely had better....she took me up to my falsetto, but somehow I scratched something and after that I had a lingering itch and cough whenever I sang anything.....I can't figure out why....I think I was pushing too much up at the top and trying to vibrate...whatever. The Purcell is such a great piece, and she got all excited as I was singing it...I mean, unlike the silly duets that she's heard me do, and the utterly simplistic Mozart concert aria she's also having me do, the Purcell is music that I can really get into. It's a great piece, as I mentioned.....
After my lesson I rushed over to the Staatsoper to see Andréa Cheniér, since today was the only possible day I could have seen it. I got there at about 6:20, so the line had already bought their tickets and everyone was waiting to go inside. I hastily bought my ticket for Galerie...so hastily, in fact, that when I paid for the €2 ticket with a €10 note the woman (who I'd never seen there before, incidentally) gave me back five €2 coins, so the ticket was free! I didn't realize it until I was already in line to go in, and I didn't feel too bad about keeping it....they've taken enough of my money over the months.....considering I was there so late the line was RIDICULOUSLY short.....I not many people ever show up for the Wednesday night operas...in any case I saw Ann right in front of me, literally, so we stood together and got great second-row spots in the middle-right section.....for reference, I would have to get there 2.5-3 hours early to get the same spots on a Friday or Saturday night.
The opera itself was quite good......it started off interersting, but got more and more melodramatic until the ridiculous ending, where the lovers (who barely know each other) choose death by the French revolutionaries rather than separation....well, he was going to die anyway, but she sacrificed herself so that she could die with him......it was insane. In the beginning it just seemed like it was going to be a normal opera with a bit of a political slant, but by the end it was almost Wagnerian in it's grand and far-flung emotional content with no basis on how real people act.....and José Cura being as loud as possible all the time didn't help either....I love his voice, but a lot of the time it's just a bit much. The soprano was good....I can't remember her name. It was still fun, though, and there were some absolutely glorious musical moments.
After the opera I went home, did some homework, and went to bed.
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