What an Evening!
We extended the lease on our apartment to our new completion date here of 10 July 2007. The landlord let us know that as a token of his gratitude for our staying on he was giving us tickets to see the Bolshoi Ballet here in London. We went last Tuesday night. His gift included dinner with all the trimmings in the Opera House restaurant.
What a spectacular evening! First, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden is magnificent; a real gem of Victorian architecture. The foyer is a trademark glass and iron arched space which now houses a bar and two of the three restaurants. The auditorium is the traditional European horseshoe styl
e, and is spectacularly decorated. Gold and deep red velvet abound. The ceiling is a work of art. The stage is huge.
The itinerary was: show up at about 6:30 for our reserved table in the restaurant – enjoy a cocktail, appetizer and main course. Then go into the auditorium for the 7:30 start of the ballet. At about 8:00 return to our table and have dessert and coffee during the 25 minute “interval”. Then back for Act II of the ballet and afterward back to the reserved table for port and mingling with the crowd in the open portion of the restaurant. Then back to the auditorium for Act III.
Of course, the Bolshoi is renowned for its mastery. With little knowledge of ballet, I’m sure we didn’t appreciate (or realize) the degree of excellence being performed. The audience was, on the whole, much more knowledgeable of ballet than either of us. And it was very interesting to hear the collective intakes of breath, the spontaneous smattering of applause and even fairly widespread “bravos” in the middle of routines – indicating, no doubt, an especially well-done jump or turn or other dance move. Kathi and I were finding it all spectacular, but with little basis for any comparison.
The ballet was “The Pharoah’s Daughter”. The number of dancers was enormous (there are 213 in the Bolshoi). The costumes were almost beyond belief – I doubt if the ancient Egyptian court ever looked as spectacular in reality as it did on the Opera House stage. The costume changes were numerous. The scenery was extremely grand, with many changes. And, beside the lead ballerina and male dancer (is there a male equivalent of “ballerina”?) there were another dozen or so soloists who put on bravura performances at various points in the story.
After that evening of spectacle and treats for the eyes and ears (the Bolshoi orchestra would probably outshine many of the world’s philharmonics or symphony orchestras) it was difficult to go home and go to sleep.
And what a great thing for our landlord to think of -- sincere thanks have gone to him.
Unfortunately, cameras were not permitted in the Opera House, so we have no photos of our own. The ones here are from publicity material.
What a spectacular evening! First, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden is magnificent; a real gem of Victorian architecture. The foyer is a trademark glass and iron arched space which now houses a bar and two of the three restaurants. The auditorium is the traditional European horseshoe styl
e, and is spectacularly decorated. Gold and deep red velvet abound. The ceiling is a work of art. The stage is huge.
The itinerary was: show up at about 6:30 for our reserved table in the restaurant – enjoy a cocktail, appetizer and main course. Then go into the auditorium for the 7:30 start of the ballet. At about 8:00 return to our table and have dessert and coffee during the 25 minute “interval”. Then back for Act II of the ballet and afterward back to the reserved table for port and mingling with the crowd in the open portion of the restaurant. Then back to the auditorium for Act III.
Of course, the Bolshoi is renowned for its mastery. With little knowledge of ballet, I’m sure we didn’t appreciate (or realize) the degree of excellence being performed. The audience was, on the whole, much more knowledgeable of ballet than either of us. And it was very interesting to hear the collective intakes of breath, the spontaneous smattering of applause and even fairly widespread “bravos” in the middle of routines – indicating, no doubt, an especially well-done jump or turn or other dance move. Kathi and I were finding it all spectacular, but with little basis for any comparison.
The ballet was “The Pharoah’s Daughter”. The number of dancers was enormous (there are 213 in the Bolshoi). The costumes were almost beyond belief – I doubt if the ancient Egyptian court ever looked as spectacular in reality as it did on the Opera House stage. The costume changes were numerous. The scenery was extremely grand, with many changes. And, beside the lead ballerina and male dancer (is there a male equivalent of “ballerina”?) there were another dozen or so soloists who put on bravura performances at various points in the story.
After that evening of spectacle and treats for the eyes and ears (the Bolshoi orchestra would probably outshine many of the world’s philharmonics or symphony orchestras) it was difficult to go home and go to sleep.
And what a great thing for our landlord to think of -- sincere thanks have gone to him.
Unfortunately, cameras were not permitted in the Opera House, so we have no photos of our own. The ones here are from publicity material.
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 7:59 PM
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