Last night, I thought of the cabinet officials of the current US president each in turn going around telling him and the world how great he was. You probably saw it. So some things never change. But my mild criticism of the Queen last night only stands in relief against the excellence of everything and everyone else. I was so lucky to snag a wonderful seat: each of the remaining performances is sold out.
But luckily there were cameras set up. I only know that I was in heaven from start to finish. Once in a great while you see something that makes up for the many mediocre performances which require you to bring your own imagination to fill in the many blanks. That was like starting at the top. My first stand-up comedian was Chris Rock in trying out new material in a small club. But then as I saw other comics I realized how lucky my first experience had been.
I saw it last exactly six years ago when the late, great Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducted a semi-staged version in his home town of Graz, Austria. It was recorded and shown on Austrian TV. At age 83, three years from his death in , he was an institution. But he made his name as a proponent of Early Music starting in the 50s.
But as he turned 80 he began to concentrate on sorts of music he loved; music that was far from what he was associated with. And being so highly venerated, he was able to do what he wanted. So one of the last things he did was Ritter Blaubart as it is known in German. He said that Offenbach was far too underrated as a musician, and wanted to help his reputation.
Everything meshed; it all came together in perfection. I had to dig deep about that one singer to find any flaws at all in it. The director, Laurent Pelly, is apparently a big deal in France, but I had not heard of him. The conductor, Michele Spotti, was just perfect, as was his orchestra. Overall, it was one of those far too few nights in the theatre where you feel lucky to be alive and where you are. And you feel: privileged. I only hope the world can see this if they put out the DVD.
