The Best Thing Ever

Tonight I did the best thing I have done in Vienna since I have been here.

It started out as a fluke, really. I recently joined the American Women's Association and read in its monthly newsletter about a guy named Prentiss Dunn, who teaches a class at the English-language university, Webster. He gives opera classes in his flat as kind of a side gig. Well, because I know that the opera Carmen is in town and I want to take my husband to his first opera (and only my second), I decided to sign up for the "class" and to take my new friend Katalin with me. (Katalin works for the Hungarian Embassy in Vienna and is from Budapest.)

So, off we trod in the rain to Vienna's 19th district to learn about Carmen. Two trains and one Tram ride later, we arrive in the 19th district.

From the moment we walked in the door, the night was destined to be magical.

Prentiss served us a plate each of arugula (rucola, as they call it in Europe) dressed with a honey balsamic dressing accompanied by a sort of Caribbean-style stir-fried chicken breast with paprika (bell peppers in the U.S.) over Basmati rice. It was all washed down with cabernet sauvignon and a white wine (not sure which).

From there, we sat down on cushy sofas (some sat in rows of delicate chairs) and watched a video of the opera in its original language of French (with English subtitles), featuring a very young Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes-Johnson, whom I learned is one of the most famous opera singers to play "Carmen" ever. Prentiss explained the music and the motive behind the music. We listened for the trumpets and counted the beat levels. We learned about arias. Prentiss paused the video and played the piano so that we could hear the music over which Domingo was singing. He explained the plot and the reason behind the songs and the movement. He talked about the French composer, George Bizet, and his motivation and his untimely death (he died at age 36 of a heart attack in June 1835) and how Carmen was first received by the public and about its debut in Vienna in 1875, to rave reviews and enormous success.

It was glorious, and by far, the best 30 euros I have spent since arriving here in this land of music. Now, I am looking forward to seeing the live production in a week's time and I assure you that I will have a much greater appreciation then even I could have imagined.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcnsMnRMN2U

Alison
04 May 2010
11:07 p.m.