Wonderful!

Rick and I saw Andrea Bocelli last night singing Petite Messe Solenelle by Rossini. It was spectacular! Bocelli sang tenor, the bass from Carmen (who is absolutely terrific), Alexander Vinogradov, also sang, along with mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich and soprano Sabina Cvilak, the Washington National Chorus and the Washington National Opera, conducted by Placido Domingo.

Boy, do we have a treasure here in Washington DC with Domingo! I wonder why, out of all the cities in the world, he choose to light in Wash. DC?

The Mass was beautiful. It helps to be Catholic and studying Latin! I could follow the whole thing pretty easily whereas I think Rick was lost most of the time. I clearly heard 'Benedictus venit in nomine Deus.' And of course knew what it meant! At one point the soprano kept singing 'auxilium' over and over and I leaned over to Rick and said 'that means 'help!' That was a vocabulary word in Sean's Chapter 8 of Latin for Children this week!

We were only 5 rows away from the stage and I was directly in front of Bocelli. Rick said if he wasn't blind we could have had eye contact! Bocelli fidgets a lot. The bass, Vinogradov (did I mention that he is a fantastic singer???) prompted Bocelli to sit or stand as appropriate. I was wondering what language they were communicating in. The main players were Italian, Russian, Slovenian, American and Spanish. But Rick said he heard Vinogradov whisper to Bocellin in English, "You can sit down now!"

The Slovenia soprano not only has a beautiful voice but she is a very, very beautiful blond. Some people are just so blessed! When she sang she looked transported by the music. The American Kate Aldrich seemed tense or something and I felt she was a bit weaker in her singing, except she did the final piece, the Agnus Dei, and was phenomenal. She sang with such passion and so beautifully!

After the Messe was over Andrea Bocelli came back and sang Panis Angelicus to the shouts and bravos of the crowd. Then as a surprise second encore he and Placido Domingo sang the famous duet from The Pearl Fishers. I can't even put into words how thrilling it was, a little taste of heaven that I will remember for the rest of my life. I was for those few minutes utterly happy!

We don't go to another opera until 4/4 (Josh's birthday!) when we see Peter Grimes. Then we see two in May: Siegfried by Wagner and Turandot by Puccini. I am not familiar with the first two but I have seen Turandot before. I can't wait. I love Puccini!