Losing our "opera virginity"

Did you know that the downtown location of Pearl's is going out of business? Everything in the store is fifty percent off, and while the paper section is, for all intents and purposes, now non-existent, we scored some wonderful deals on loose thin-thick pens, Prismacolor pencils, and charcoal sticks, as well as portfolios and portable sketch boards. Perhaps the luckiest find was a collection of quality pastels, unopened, intact. The store is emptying out fast, so local artists -- aspiring, practicing, and otherwise -- should stop in sooner rather than later.

After our spree, we headed to Gene and Georgetti for our pre-opera dinner, during which, Miss M-mv(i) quietly announced that the evening was making her "feel like a princess" (which, of course, made Mr. M-mv feel like a king).

Good luck and planning had us at the opera house in plenty of time for the lecture offered at 6:30 p.m. -- an introduction to The Merry Widow presented by Roger Pines, dramaturg of the Lyric Opera Company. His lecture included audio clips from benchmark performances of this popular operetta, including Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing "Vilja," an aria the speaker described as a gift for sopranos, with soaring lines and melodies.

Afterward, we took our time making our way to our seats, slowly walking up the stately stairs and discreetly people-watching. They say you'll find everything from ballgowns to blue jeams at the opera, and we did. (The gal in the ballgown looked so lovely, I felt compelled to tell her so.)

And what can I say that hasn't already been said about this production of The Merry Widow? It was beautifully sung, to say nothing of funny and touching in all the right places. The orchestra was perfection -- such a rich, lovely sound. Our seats were grand. And, as always, it was over too soon.

Related entry: "She's beautiful! She's rich!"