La Boheme

We’ve been up Pompei today, no togas or Frankie Howard, but we did visit the brothel. Other than that we had a leisurely late afternoon in this amazing vast site, which in the quieter, cooler part of the day is enchanting. There is sufficient detail and remains to invite you to consider both life in the place at it’s height and to ponder the speed and scale of devastation wreaked by the nearby volcano.
Earlier in the week we spent 15mins chatting to an American lady who was in the area for a weeks language school, we talked about memory and learning and aging and the beauty of this area and opera. Opera, we told her of the performance at the Teatre Grande in Pompei(venue of the 1970’s legendary Pink Floyd concert) – I think we’d just made her holiday. We found her with her language school friends on the streets of Pompei excited as we were about the performance.

The performance was a trial run of the venue for an opera festival next year. So by 9pm we were settling down for La Bohemme. (think Moulin Rouge – Baz Lehman got his inspiration from this opera)

In short – boy meets girl, girl meet boy, they sing loudly in each others ears, fall in love, but….(always a but in good story telling)not war, or ownership of the woman by a more powerful man this time (though there was some of that), but consumption, and eventually via several twists and turns the death bed scene. (when I retire I’m going to write liberettos)

The talented cast and orchestral accompaniment had us from hello…until good bye. Vittorio Griggolo’s tenor was worth every Bravo! Bravo! that lauded his arias from the Napalese (and the rest of us). Jessica Nuccio as Mimi gave a soprano masterclass. The maestro with the baton suffered at the end with a hail of boos for not keeping his orchestra pianissimo enough during Mimi’s introductory aria. The Italians aficionados unflinchingly praise the best and are unforgiving of even modest misdemeanours.

It was all beautiful tonight. So today I’ve blipped the inevitable death scene, their relationship starts with Rodolfo warming Mimi’s cold hands and end him not being able to do so at the last. We get to fill in the gaps in the stories with our own lives.

Interesting facts of the day,
- L “he’s sung with Pavorotti” me “I’ve sung with Pavorotti”, L,”Yes but in the shower dear”. And yes these opera stars are consummate performers and artists, not if I trained for a hundred years…..
- And Vulcanogists aren’t necessarily Star Trek fans.

Pavrotti - The Maestro....The Maestro