Opera a Firenze!

Last Thursday I went to see an opera in Florence. The opera was Verdi's "Rigoletto" - this opera was adapted from Victor Hugo's "Le roi s'amuse" original play. While I had never heard of this opera, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had already heard a few of the songs from it. "Rigoletto" contains the song "La Donna E Mobile", which I have heard as performed by Pavarotti.

Now, while I thoroughly enjoyed dressing up and sipping on wine before the opera began, I have to say that I was thoroughly disappointed in the performance that I saw. Perhaps the most off-putting aspect of this production of "Rigoletto" was the set that was used. It did not look like a Duke's court with jesters and nobles as the time period of the story would have you imagine. Instead, the set consisted of a fake Rolls Royce that the Duke rode around in, a dog house that the main character (Rigoletto) and his daughter (Gilda) lived in, a boat, and a giant rotating black wall that didn't seem to serve much of any purpose. It is possible that the director was going for a modern spin on the antiquated story of Rigoletto, but it appeared as though the set was thrown together using leftover props from previous productions.

Aside from the aesthetics, I was not moved by the singing. While the singing was not bad, it was not what I would expect from a professional opera in Italy. But in all fairness, I had listened to Pavarotti's rendition of "Questa o Quella" earlier and the day, and Pavarotti sets a pretty high bar.

Luckily, the music itself was amazing - I really do have a lot of respect for the orchestra that performed that evening.

Aside from the opera, not much else is new. Except that it is now COLD here. Fa freddo! It literally happened overnight. Luckily it has been sunny and clear - though the locals tell me it will only get colder over the next few months, and you can bet it will start raining more frequently. I've had to go out and buy new sweaters and boots so that I don't freeze to death on the ten minute walk to class in the morning.
Today I could see my breath, despite the shining sun and bright blue sky. This did not sit well with me. I am a southern Californian girl - I am not familiar with cold weather.
This will be an adventure...albeit, a very cold one.