A Night at the Opera...

My horrible, terrible, very bad day was completely salvaged by a wonderful evening. I bought a ticket to the Vienna Volksoper, the less formal, (and way less expensive: the cheapest ticket I could find to the Staatsoper was 200 Euros, for La Sonnambula, an opera I don't care for) sister to the Staatsoper. The performance happened to be the premiere of their production of Prokofiev’s The Love of Three Oranges, a combination of fairy tale, spectacle, and satire, with (as JoJo would say) a “jazzy” score. It’s not performed all that often, but you’ve all heard part of it…the march turns up in movies and commercials periodically.
The opera house was a leisurely 10 minute walk from the hotel, and the city looked beautiful in the early evening sun. It was also nice to have a few minutes of solitude. After I claimed my ticket, I was handed a glass of Campari and orange juice (Campari was sponsoring the production) and a free cocktail went a long way in improving my mood. The performance was fantastic. Very modern and dynamic. Though originally written in Russian, and typically performed in French, this production was in German, (but still supertitled) and I understood every word. At intermission, I treated myself to marzipan kartoffeln (marzipan “potatoes”), from the charming candy stand in the lobby. When I left the opera house at the conclusion of the opera, I was again handed something: this time a gift bag containing two oranges ,a tiny jar of marmalade, and a little bottle of Campari.
Walking back to the hotel, I almost felt like I was back in Chicago or New York…Vienna has the same kind of pedestrian city feel. It was the perfect ending to a great visit.