Last night Jack and I attended the San Francisco Opera's performance of Lohengrin as the guest of our landlady, who is a dresser with the opera company. Lohengrin is a Germanic spin on a medieval myth that was composed by Richard Wagner. It was a favorite of King Ludwig of Bavaria who built the famous castle of Neuschwanstein, which is on our travel bucket list.
This was only the second opera I've seen and I must confess that I don't see the attraction. There were subtitles over the stage so we could follow the story, but the operatic performance style seems so forced to me. A stage full of people with their mouths wide open and their vocal cords straining as they sing just seems so overly melodramatic. Of course, in certain circumstances, I can see the attraction of all that.
We wanted to love the performance but we just didn't, although we could appreciate the training and skill that went into it. Jack and I escaped like guilty schoolchildren after three hours (Lohengrin is LONG) at the second intermission. On our way out the door we took a picture of the Opera House lobby and
and of one of the gilded wall hangings with Jack's new Iphone.
Maybe Jack and I will try the opera again some day. Until then, we'll just enjoy the Looney Tunes version of it. Now that is the kind of refined culture that I can enjoy.
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