Culture on the Cheap

I feel like I am inside an inverted wedding cake. Gilded white icing drips from the ceiling. Crimson velvet enrobes the seats and gilt mirrors and red damask cover the walls. Chandeliers like frozen explosions of gold and crystal hover below puzzling allegories of operatic themes realized in darkened pigments.. The State Opera house is not as splendid as what I remember of the Vienna Stadtoper or Paris’ Opera Garnier- it is definitely not a large venue. But man it is cheap. Front row, first balcony for thirty bucks! Plus supertitles in Czech and English, so I could actually understand what was happening!

Mozart’s The Magic Flute done in period dress with modern minimalist sets seemed a bit incongruous. The protagonist tenor was a bit weak, the Queen had nice little vocal runs; overall a good production. My jet lag kicked in late in the performance; I was bobbing and weaving and I was lucky my head didn’t end up resting comfy-like in my neighbor’s lap. A quick beer at a pub near the hotel and then to bed, with the Birdcatcher’s song from the opera with that maddening little flute trill in it.