'Lucia'

The other day I finally got to go to the opera since being in Italy. We got slightly dressed up and commenced to our nosebleed side seats and experienced Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor.' And let me tell you, everything about the experience was fantastic.
For one thing... the theater in Ferrara is a 17th century style opera house, completely round with layers upon layers of box seating. I felt like I was in a movie! At the very top, where we were, was just benches for us to sit on and lean way over the balcony so we could see the action below. The only draw back to this was that it was so hot up there, other than that, it was the perfect spot for me because it provided and interesting angle and let me observe much of the audience as well.
The second great thing about this evening was that it was Anne's first opera experience. I love being there when people are introduced to the art of opera! She was so lucky that her first one was not only so incredible, but in Italy, the capital of opera! She was so cute for me to watch and it was an experience in itself just to see how pleased she was!
The woman who sang the part of Lucia was phenomenal. There is a part in the second act when the character has gone mad and murdered her new husband. She is standing there in her wedding dress, covered in blood and with a knife in her hand. The aria she sings, "Il Dolce Suono," is fantastic and so moving... its a very grotesque and parodoxal scene to watch because the music (and the acting!) are so incredible, but the context is so heart wrenching... she's mad, she's about to die, she has lost her love who upon hearing the news of her death kills himself. I know its the typical tragic love story... but I still had tears streaming down my face by the end. There is this one moment in her big aria where she lies down and having an arial view of it was so great! And then another moment where she is singing an interplay, a dialogue between her and the flute... Words cannot describe it!