But I'll save one word for you

[sovay]

Well, that was a shock . . .


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This has been a good weekend. Friday morning and several hours this afternoon I spent with my good friend Peter Gould, one of the most incredible people ever to walk the face of the earth. Last night went toward the Met's production of Puccini's Turandot, where Krassimira Stoyanova as Liù blew the top of my head off (metaphorically; she wasn't quite that loud). And in defiance of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazousai, thank you very much, I still like Euripides.

On to what you like. Since I have not yet figured out how to set up livejournal polls, is there something of which people would like to see more at this site? "Assyriology" and "Silly Quizzes" are perfectly acceptable answers . . .

Comments

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

To comment yet again -- I also tend to assume that all riddles in operas, like role reversals and other such mind games, are a certain magnitude harder than they're actually written. Sort of like how you infer the appearances of certain characters regardless of whether the actors actually fit. The alternative is assuming that all the previous suitors were just brainless, which both seems improbable given the numbers involves and makes a less interesting story.

[sovay]

Well, I guessed the first and third without recourse to a libretto; but I take your point.

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

Recourse to a libretto?

To be fair, I heard the answers before I ever saw the questions, so I have no idea how well they work in drive. So I try to give the benefit of the doubt.

[sovay]

Yes; without knowing them beforehand. I knew the plot of Turandot very imperfectly when I saw the opera, and (partially because we got to our seats literally as the lights went down and I had no chance to read through the synopsis included in the program) had no idea what riddles Turandot would ask, much less the answers. So I guessed two of them and was correct, and would probably not have gotten the third. That's all.

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

Ah! I thought you were implying that they were clearer in the Italian than in the Met translation. Which is possible -- it's been a while since I've looked at that part of the libretto, and I've unfortunately yet to hear a Turandot who makes the words of the riddles comprehensible -- but seemed surprising.

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

It just occurred to me that my listening experience with Turandot was essentially the Jeopardy version. That's an amusing thought.

[sovay]

Answers before the questions? I don't think I can visualize Alex Trebek in a fantasy-Chinese court . . .

(You know, I got a great discussion of opera out of this. But I realize that not one person responded to my question of what should go on this livejournal!)

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

I would say all of the above. And more discussion of resolutely bloodthirsty operatic princesses and weird fake bards.