A couple of years ago, in conjunction with Sacra Liturgia Milano, I saw Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at La Scala Opera House. (See about it here.) Tonight's experience will be totally different. Teatro Salone Margherita is a lovely Art Nouveau 'dinner theater', and the performance tonight is Verdi's "La Traviata"!
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| (photo from website) |
I had booked my ticket for the opera only, skipping the meal. I think that I maybe regret that just a bit now. Oh well. Next time.
There was just a small 'pit' orchestra, one person per instrument: string quintet, plus flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trombone, and timpani. The music was superb, as was the acting! The dining tables are just out of the above photo, to each side of the seating. To the right in the above photo, there is a bar. I enjoyed the opera in a very comfortable red velvet seat while sipping my Spritz Veneziano (or Aperol Spritz), evidently a favorite Roman drink. Photography was actually encouraged, so long as there was no flash or video photography. The costumes and stage settings were mid-19th century, but there was Alphonse Mucha artwork on either side, and a screen at the back with a slide show of French impressionistic artwork that coordinated with the various scenes and lighting effects.
There were only a couple of hundred in the audience. It was very intimate, and very enjoyable. I met a fellow from Texas - a graduate of UT whose commencement was in Bates Recital Hall which has a pipe organ that I helped build while at Visser-Rowland Associates. He is employed with the Mexican Consulate, and was in Rome for the Canonization Mass like I was. There were also a couple of young ladies, also opera lovers, on holiday from Seattle. On my way back, I stopped for a late dinner a few blocks from my room.
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