We took Miranda to her first opera yesterday, a performance of Die Zauberflöte. The costumes were absolutely stunning; they were designed by Gerald Scarfe, had gorgeous vibrant colours, were very inventive and amusing, and a pleasure in every way to watch. (I wish I could find some good photos online, but my searching didn’t turn up anything that did them justice.) A bit too amusing, actually – in a few places, the audience’s laughter got in the way of the music – but I’ll take that.

The performance itself was good, if not breathtaking. Not that I’m in the best position to speak on the matter – my collection of opera CD’s is rather heavily weighted towards the 20th century, Benjamin Britten in particular. (I can also be found singing snippets of The Mother of Us All not infrequently; why didn’t I go see that when the SF Opera performed it four or five years ago?) Actually, my CD collection is notably light on Mozart in general; I love his Requiem, but I can take or leave most of the rest of his work. (I have been known to enjoy playing his piano sonatas at times.) I’m certainly glad we went; Miranda enjoyed herself, and she wasn’t alone in that. Not sure we’ll make a habit of opera, but we really should start going to orchestra concerts. How is the San Francisco Symphony? (Hmm, they did Alexander Nevsky this weekend.) Are there any decent orchestra options down the peninsula?

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