Sumptuous opera

We went to see Verdi's Nabucco tonight. I was a good boy and didn't take any pictures during the show, but the staging was really impressive. In fact, I'd say this was the second-best-staged opera I've ever seen. (The first was Verdi's Aida, in Vienna complete with live elephants which I missed because I fell asleep.) This production was designed in Moscow, and started with some irreverent tourists clowning around with a camera at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. They got sucked into history and from then on the show was set in the time Verdi intended, but supported with some very modern staging that relied on computer-generated imagery and lots of elevators.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the music too. Sometimes in the past I have complained about the high brass in Belarus. (My brother-in-law, a professional brass player, says that in Eastern Europe the musicians train to sound different from the way they like to sound in the West, and suggested that the differences may be a matter of taste.) For whatever reasons, tonight I had no complaints about anything and I actually thought the high brass did a really great job. Either I am getting used to their style, or they did something special. I suspect it's a little of each.

Tonight's show was the premiere, so maybe we'll have some bragging privileges as a result of having been there. In any event, Alla is at this very minute online ordering tickets to see the show again next month.

Here are some of the players taking bows after the show.