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Day 972: Whew! Wagner
Nov. 17th, 2022 11:59 pmEver since our local symphony announced its plans to perform Tristan und Isolde, one act per year for three years, I've been wondering whether I'd be brave enough to go. This opera is widely seen as the birth of "modern" music, which I wasn't sure that I wanted to listen to, and I've learned the hard way that soprano voices can be migraine triggers. I missed act one, last year, but on Monday I'd gone to symphony happy hour to learn about act two, mostly to get myself psyched up to go (and of course to play trivia).
Then today I woke with some mild cold symptoms and though I was off the hook. I did think if I felt better it could make sense to go to the pre-concert talk and the pre-intermission part of the concert - a few minutes of Francesco talking about the musical themes, and a five-minute piece by Lili Boulanger. Then I could slip out, unless I just felt fine and content being there.
So I settled in and did some work. The vet had cancelled Azalyn's appointment (he was sick), so I just stayed in and worked quietly. But when six p.m. rolled around, I realized I was ready to go to the pre-concert talk. So I did. Then I went to my seat in the main concert hall and was delighted to see that nearly half the seats were empty, especially way over on the aisle where I am, so I could spread out. And I ended up staying.
Act two of Tristan und Isolde has the two lovers singing to each other in a garden, while the king to whom Isolde is married is presumably off hunting. Isolde's maid warns her it could be a ruse, a trap. The two profess their love (they are, after all, under the influence of a love potion), and since they can't be together by day, Tristan's solution is that they should both die. Then the king shows up and sings at length about how disappointed he is in Tristan, his best friend, and Tristan manipulates the king's sidekick into holding out his sword so he can throw himself onto it. It lasts 75 minutes.
So my thought had been that maybe since professional sopranos are so in control of their voices, maybe it wouldn't give me a headache after all? And in fact I didn't get a headache until an hour into the opera, during the king's long bass solo, which in itself didn't bother me. Maybe the headache was just the cumulative effect. I did manage to stay until the end.
The subtitles were in a spot almost directly above the first rows, so I had to crane my neck to read them and generally didn't bother. Instead, I spent some energy on envying my German friend who didn't need the subtitles (though I suppose she could read them pretty well from her seat). The rest of the time I focused much of my attention to the pretty sparkles of Isolde's dress, which they could change with the lighting (mostly gold and blue and red, but sometimes just gold and blue or gold and red or, once, simply blue, though in normal light the dressed looked gold). Then there was the music in the background - okay but not totally my thing.
And then it ended and the lights went dim and I realized that I now had my achievement! Whew!
Then today I woke with some mild cold symptoms and though I was off the hook. I did think if I felt better it could make sense to go to the pre-concert talk and the pre-intermission part of the concert - a few minutes of Francesco talking about the musical themes, and a five-minute piece by Lili Boulanger. Then I could slip out, unless I just felt fine and content being there.
So I settled in and did some work. The vet had cancelled Azalyn's appointment (he was sick), so I just stayed in and worked quietly. But when six p.m. rolled around, I realized I was ready to go to the pre-concert talk. So I did. Then I went to my seat in the main concert hall and was delighted to see that nearly half the seats were empty, especially way over on the aisle where I am, so I could spread out. And I ended up staying.
Act two of Tristan und Isolde has the two lovers singing to each other in a garden, while the king to whom Isolde is married is presumably off hunting. Isolde's maid warns her it could be a ruse, a trap. The two profess their love (they are, after all, under the influence of a love potion), and since they can't be together by day, Tristan's solution is that they should both die. Then the king shows up and sings at length about how disappointed he is in Tristan, his best friend, and Tristan manipulates the king's sidekick into holding out his sword so he can throw himself onto it. It lasts 75 minutes.
So my thought had been that maybe since professional sopranos are so in control of their voices, maybe it wouldn't give me a headache after all? And in fact I didn't get a headache until an hour into the opera, during the king's long bass solo, which in itself didn't bother me. Maybe the headache was just the cumulative effect. I did manage to stay until the end.
The subtitles were in a spot almost directly above the first rows, so I had to crane my neck to read them and generally didn't bother. Instead, I spent some energy on envying my German friend who didn't need the subtitles (though I suppose she could read them pretty well from her seat). The rest of the time I focused much of my attention to the pretty sparkles of Isolde's dress, which they could change with the lighting (mostly gold and blue and red, but sometimes just gold and blue or gold and red or, once, simply blue, though in normal light the dressed looked gold). Then there was the music in the background - okay but not totally my thing.
And then it ended and the lights went dim and I realized that I now had my achievement! Whew!