After worship services yesterday at Woodland Church, as promised, Becky and I attended the Opera.  When she told folks that we were going, there were quite a few of my friends asking for my man card!  Well, I hope no one tries to confiscate it, but I I confess, I enjoyed it.  Whew, that feels good to say that.  I also enjoy immensely that she was delighted that I chose to go.

L’Elisir D’Amore made me think of the old song Love Potion #9!

It was funny and with the subtitles I could follow the story.  The very talented singers drew you right into the story with them.  Before I realized it I was sympathetic to the cause of young Nemorino.  As a Dad I was thinking get a grip, son!  But he was hopelessly in love with the flirty young Adina.

The story of course followed his pursuit of her love and her attraction to another.  Nemorino thinks that there really must be a potion to make Adina love him.  So he buys a magic elixer from a flying snake oil salesman.  It only gets funnier from there.

The Opera leaves you with a good life lesson.  Genuine love pursued doesn’t need a magic elixer, potion, or charm.  Love is patient!

When you think about it, the Opera was to the masses of earlier centuries what movies are to us today.  It’s a much different style of singing and performing than we are accustomed to today.  During the intermission I wondered what it would have been like to have seen the costuming, watch the actors and listened to orchestral music in the 17th century.  Special effects would have required quite a bit of imagination without computerization and stunt men.  When an artist took a spill on set, yesterday, there was no missing a beat or a note.  There was no second take or remastering on the musical score. Sure it’s not like watching a movie.  But my experience was positive.

These were very talented people who entertained with a good story and seemed to enjoy every minute of the performance.

Of course watching my wife enjoy herself so, was even better!

I’m attaching a link to a synopsis of the Opera in case your interested in knowing more about it.

http://www.toledoopera.org/operas/lelisirdamore/synopsis.html

By the way, I’m going for a run, watching 24 tonight and eating a hamburger!

Peace and Joy!