Sniffing Symphony At the Opera

***Not a review of the performance...just some anecdotes from my evening!***

When we went to Nationals Stadium to see La Traviata last month, Washington National Opera was offering Buy One Get One Free tickets for a weeknight performance of The Pearl Fishers. Since that's an opera neither of us have seen, Maureen and I decided to get tickets. With the BOGOF offer, we were able to score pretty decent Orchestra seats for a decent price.

Really, this was both my first time at the Kennedy Center as well as my first time seeing an opera at a "significant" Opera house. (Sorry Annapolis Opera and various companies in SC...you don't count as "significant"). I thought the performance as a whole was fantastic...a few tiny, tiny musical glitches here and there...but as we all know that happens in live performance. I was blown away by the sets and the costumes...lots of bright colors and excellent lighting. The singing was pretty darn good, as well. I did fall in love with the Tenor/Baritone Duet during the first Act...as predicted by many folks. And, as usual, I got teary at the end. I'm on a quest to find a tragic opera that doesn't make me cry...

In addition to a lovely evening of listening to opera, there were quite a few funny moments that occurred. The first happened when I looked down at my top and noticed that it seemed to be falling down (thankfully, I had a wrap on, as well). Apparently, the strap had broken and I was 2 seconds away from flashing everyone in the immediate area. Oops. Wardrobe Malfunction #2 occurred as I was walking out of the Ladies room during Intermission. As I walked past the mirror, I realized that the back of my skirt was tucked into my undies. Now that would have been embarrassing! The woman behind me as I was walking out got a kick out of me quickly pulling it down and making fun of myself. All in all, not a great wardrobe evening!

There were also some very odd people seated in the House around us. During the opening of Act III, there was a man behind us who kept sniffing. It wasn't like a sniff every now and then, but 3 sniffs in a row EVERY 10 seconds. During the quiet moments in the Baritone's aria. Then, the man next to me kept breathing in and sighing. Maureen and I could barely hold it together we were laughing so hard! It was literally like their own "sniffing symphony"! Thankfully, as the music got louder, we couldn't hear them as much anymore.

This was the second installment of my quest to get out and see more live performances this year. I still have a jazz show to attend (Yay, Chris Botti!), and another opera. Hopefully, the Sniffing Symphony was a one-night only performance!