A Woman That Knows Who She Is

Last night was opening night at the Seattle Opera for the 2011 production of Carmen and it was fantastic. I consider myself a fan of opera even though I have only been to three: Barber of Seville, Magic Flute, and now Carmen. Barber is a comedy, Magic Flute a romance, and Carmen is a tragedy.  I liked that most of the characters in Carmen were flawed; my sympathies to different characters switched continually through the performance.  I also appreciate voluptuous women. Carmen could not be played convincingly by a stick insect. 

Carmen has everything one could want in opera: a strong female role, a love triangle, rousing music, dancing, costumes, grand set decoration, drama galore, and violence.  My favorite part is that she knows her own self and above all desires freedom and admits who she is and doesn't try to run away from her problems.  While I enjoy listening to opera by myself, going to the opera and dressing up and eating out and people watching and coffee afterwards always makes for a memorable occasion.  We had a bonus last night too.  While we were sipping coffee and discussing the opera at a little restaurant in lower Queen Anne around midnight, who should we see come in but the diva herself, Anita Rachverlishvili, who we just saw perform Carmen had came into the restaurant to eat.  She was a lot smaller looking in person, which I found funny.  We speculated that maybe she layers a lot of costumes on top of one another. 

The above poster is from a 1982 Seattle Opera production of Carmen by David Lund.  I am trying to find a print of it, I think it is gorgeous.