Bluebeard’s Castle by Bela Bartok! Creeeeepy! When she was very young, Rebecca had a book of Perrault’s Fairy Tales, and Bluebeard was her favorite story. And Bartok was her favorite composer. When she was a bit less young, she had a recording of the opera. It was terrible and whenever she played it, I got the serious creeps. Finally, I wouldn’t let her play it anymore when I was at home. It was really horrible. I thought that liking that awful music might be a sign of some serious character quirk - except that being the perfect girl, she doesn’t have any. So, when she saw Bluebeard on the Opera docket, she was thrilled! “When are we going?” she asked. “We’re not. I didn’t get tickets for that one.” She wheedled and cajoled, pointing out her lifelong love for Bluebeard. Of course I had to give in and get tickets. As expected, it was creepily brilliant. The lighting director was definitely one of the stars of the show. The stage setting was two sinister walls inside the castle, one with the seven doors, and the ligh
ting did the rest. Forb
idding shadows, flittery glimmerings, bloody giant auras – the lighting told the tale. The second short opera, Die Erwartung by Schonberg was very Cabinet-of-Dr-Caligari-esque and had a naked man flopping around being murdered very slowly and artistically. I very seldom see naked men (except patients, and they are different), and I find there is something a trifle ludicrous about them. I think it is their thighs.Here is a picture of the Opera Nuts, and my little opera nut in front of the opera nut display. And a picture of the two young men in
front of us. Rebecca was fascinated by the head of one of them. She thought it resembled an otter.
