_THE_ Opera

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They offered us a service this morning - €5 to have your bag hauled from the hotel to the bus. A 5 min walk. Seriously. I probably don't need to tell most of you this, but I refused. There's paying for convenience, and then there's ridiculous (unless you have health issues or some other really valid reason for not carrying your bags). 5 minutes. Probably not even, actually.

The bus ride to Milan was hell. Apparently there was some sort of accident(s) on the motorway, which meant we didn't move at all for about half an hour, and then at a snail's pace from there. I kept thinking that if we had just taken the bloody train, we'd have been there by the time we were only a few miles out of Venice. Such is my impatience with group travel.

We arrived with just enough time to spare to clean up an find our way to La Scala, pick up scalped tickets for a couple of the gals who hadn't gotten any, eat a bite at the little wine-bar-esque restaurant next to the theatre (where, let me tell you, the saffron risotto is to die for), and head into the theatre.

Sadly this means that I literally have no photos of today, except for a couple of blurry iPhone shots, but I'm sure that will be remedied by some of the other choir members soon enough!

I wasn't sure what €180 was going to get me, but it got me an _amazing_ evening full of beauty that was worth every minute. First, the theatre itself. It's roughly horseshoe shaped, with four tiers of boxes and two balconies around a layer of pit-level seating. I was in the first tier of boxes, into the curve of the horseshoe, along with T and an Italian couple. The walls of the boxes are lined with what T and I thought was probably some sort of red silk brocade, and while our seats were only stools, there were padded bolsters on either side to lean against, and the stools were cleverly tiered as well. The theatre was designed for nobility to see and be seen, and some of the boxes have horrible views (I definitely encourage you to check out their website for a better sense), but we were fortunate and had lovely views. I was in my box fairly quickly and able to wander to the front to check out the views and see Whig of the folks from my choir I could find. I managed to spot a fair number, so the see and be seen philosophy must have worked back in the day. At the front of the box, there were four small electronic screens for viewing subtitles. The Italian couple (who had the front two seats of the box) kindly set one to English and the other to Italian for us - the other two being mostly invisible to us from behind them. Having to sort of watch the opera sideways meant that by intermission I very definitely coukd start to feel the crick in my neck, and my shoulder began to ache a bit, but nothing that couldn't be remedied with a little seat adjustment for the second half.

The music began, and it was instantly apparent that the folks who designed the place knew what they were doing. The orchestra volume was perfect. The overture was brilliant, and then... the curtain rose on one of the simplest and yet most evocative sets I have ever seen. It was truly like being transported to a small Spanish town... Streets and alleyways, multiple-storey buildings with intricate grillwork on the windows and doors. Lots of shades of brown and red. The costumes fit in with this scheme, and were well designed, although I doubt any self-respecting 18th century innocent virgin would have been caught wearing entirely scarlet, but I digress.

And then there was the singing. At La Scala, audiences still boo sub-par singers off the stage. There was not a hiss to be heard in the place as the Barber of Seville took to the stage and confidently and skillfully sang some of the most familiar arias and passages from opera known to the western world (sadly mostly through Bugs Bunny cartoons, but what can you do?). And then, the soprano playing Rosina finally had her first aria and it was truly one of the most perfect sounds I have ever heard. Tuning was right on. Emotions were well played. And it wasn't overpowering, which can certainly be a danger.

So one item on my bucket list has certainly been crossed off, and was worth every penny spent.

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