The Hungarian State Opera was in town for a special festival of the arts. They put on Rigoletto. I had to go. Who knows when might be my next chance to hear Verdi?
At first the scene in the lobby fit the stereotype. The men sported tuxes; the gowns on the women ranged from silk to sequins to nothing more than a slip. I heard any number of European and Asian languages spoken. The sandwiches for sale at the concessions had no crusts.
But just before the curtain was to go up, several officials literally rolled out a red carpet. A fleet of Mercedes pulled up outside the front, where nobody had been allowed to drive. Out stepped the princess. Everyone else stood at their seats as she walked to her own special armchair, dead center of the VIP section. She had to sit all by herself.
After the performance, and after the presentation (“by order of Her Royal Highness”) to the singers of lovely bouquets, we all waited for the Mercedes to pull away before exiting our own seats.
Apparently the princess is a well-known patron of both western and Thai classical music. We may run into each other again.
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2 comments:
John,
Our Lyric opener (not attended by us) pales by comparison to yours. But how well was it done?
Our Carmrn, Denyce Graves, got rave reviews as she heated up all 3500 seats with her torchlike body and voice. We'll see her soon.
Can you get me a bootleg tape of the show? I'll trade you a '77 Dead show at Illinois State. Went with Morgan, Reigard, Ellis and DuMount. The Dead played Werewolfs of London for Encore. Sweet.
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