La Traviata

If I recall correctly, you are living in New York at the moment? If so is The Met performing La Traviata this season? If so, you should score tickets, I'm sure only La Scala could really rival The Met, in terms of overall performance. Jon.

I saw the Denver Opera's version of La Traviata last Spring. It was wonderful. My wife and I were both mesmerized by the music. We both love opera. Just went to see Mozart's Cosi Fon Tutti last Friday. We're season ticket holders to Denver Opera. I really love the trend of providing translation via superscript. I know that some purists balk at this, but I think it makes things much more interesting for those of us who don't understand Italian or German.

I, too, appreciate the superscript translation. Something I thought that I would not like are the Chandos series of "opera in English". They are well done and provide an educational background to the opera. Of course, I would prefer to hear th opera in the original language, but these Chandos recordings are not bad. It is worthwhile to listen to the Chandos recording before hearing the opera (in Italian, German, or French).

"The Magic Flute" is a pretty hot seller right now at the Met. I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but someone notable within the opera community is doing set/production design this season for that particular performance. If you like La Traviata, I highly recommend "lucia di lammermoor" by Donizetti. IMHO, this is an underappreciated piece with great arias.

I saw a production of The Magic Flute with the sets and costumes designed by Maurice Sendak, the childrens book author and illustrator (Where The Wild Things Are.) His sets and costumes were wonderful.

Funny that you mention it, since both the overture and aria of the konig der nacht are some of my favorite pieces by Mozart. Jon.

Wow. Wish I could have seen that. The MET is rehearsing Cavaliera Rusticana and Pagliacci right now...gonna try and sneak in, heh. koji