The Met

We had tickets to the Metropolitan Opera to see "Cosi fan tutti" by Mozart.  Not one of my all time fav's but hey, it was the Met.  Lincoln Center was only about 10 blocks from where we were staying so we were able to walk.  We got to the Met just about sunset so the sky was beautiful against the backdrop of the Met which was lit from the inside. It was that Moonstruck moment.  Pretty cool.  My love of the Opera has some boundaries. It's really all about the voices and the music.  The story lines inevitably are ridiculous.  I'm glad that they are usually in a foreign language.  That helps me turn out any idea of following the inane plots.  The voices however at times (and unfortunately not very much time in the course of an entire opera) are insanely beautiful.  It's funny because their may be only 2 or 3 minutes during an entire opera where the voices and the music are so amazing that it's all worth it.  Cosi had a number of duets by the 2 soprano’s that were incredible. That's what Art is all about.  Sorry Jackson Pollacks drip painting just don't do it for me.  The staging at the Met was amazing.  At one point in the beginning that had a set, and behind it what I was sure was a matte painting or projection of a ship.  Halfway through the scene actors started boarding the ship. Guess it wasn't a matte painting.  They had all these rolling set that would roll on and roll off.  Very cool.  In talking to our seat neighbors one of the things that we were completely unaware of was the Music director, James Levine who had been the music director of the Met for many many years was making his first return to the Met, that night.  He had apparently had some serious back issues that had kept him away from the stage for 2 years.  The home crowd was trilled to the point of tears to have the Maestro back.  They gave him a standing ovation when he entered the orchestra pit for the first time.
After the Met we went over to Bar Boulud for an after the Opera dinner.  I had the salmon, Linda had the Pappardelli, it was pretty forgettable.  Don't bother with Bar Boulud.