Three operas

A couple of weeks ago I went to the opera twice, one of the sessions being a double feature.

The first was Il Giuoco del Quadriglio, by Antonio Caldara.  The storyline was exceedingly brief: not so much a plot, as a time to put the characters onstage to watch them interacting in the background.  The setting was minimalist but effective, appropriate for the opera.

Following this was Dido and Aeneas.  This featured John as the sailor (this was the reason I went to see the shows).  I was again surprised by the brevity of the story.  The singing was very pretty to listen to, but diction was frequently lacking, making it difficult to understand the words.  Fortunately the very short summary plus the action on stage was enough to make it clear.  The action was moved from BC Carthage to "Carthage College, Massachusetts", but this never made a great difference.  It was a little unclear how the supernatural elements were meant to contribute.  I enjoyed John's little solo as the sailor singing about how he and his companions will make promises to women on the shore and then leave them, never to return to fulfill the promises.  The scene of Aeneas leaving Dido seemed odd: there was very little justification for Dido's actions.  The characterisation of her despair at his departure was effective, but there should have been more depth to her refusal of his offer to stay.

Overall, I'd say I really enjoyed both musically, but the brevity of the operas made it difficult to tell a story, and nothing in the staging was enough to compensate.

Three days later, I went with Kelsey and Tori to see the College Light Opera Company's production of Ruddigore.  I actually saw Sudbury Savoyards' Ruddigore earlier in the year: I preferred CLOC's.  The chorus of bridesmaids was particularly strong: dynamic and aptly displaying their emotions.  They had a cute little dance for "Hail the bridegroom", their motif for when various couples seem to be about to get married.  Robin was just who he should be: a veneer of nervousness over the baronet he really is.  I was very impressed with Despard's transformation from bad baronet to respectable gentleman.  I thought that Roderic's costume was odd: it looked like he was about to throw off his cape and do a disco dance, but otherwise the costumes were nice.  There are few better ways to spend an evening than with Gilbert and Sullivan (and Kelsey and Tori).