Carmen

I am a convert! To the magic of opera that is. If you asked me just a few days ago how the gradation of arts desirability worked for me, it would look like that: 1) Ballet 2) Symphony 3) Opera. Most likely the opera was lagging behind because I was traumatized at the tender age of eight when my mother, insired to enlighten me, dragged me, kicking and screaming, to the Bolshoy Theater for a 4–act Nikolaj Rimsky-Korsakov's opera «The Tsar's Bride». Let me just say that the experience was not appreciated and for the most part of the masterpiece I ended up dangling from the balcony of our designated seats making silly faces at the annoyed members of the audience. 

But as with most things, one thankfully outgrows this stage and starts to look at past occurances at a slightly different angle. A few years ago I have seen a higly successful production of NY Metropolitan Opera's «War and Peace» but still have been foresaking my outings to the opera house for ballet performances. Alas, I hang my head in guilty aprehension of the mistakes past. On a recent Sunday, I have finally made my way to the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco Civic Center for Jean-Pierre Ponnele production of «Carmen». Everything from Georges Bizet's  music, decoration, acting and breathtaking voice of Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili have touched me deeply and made me vow my loyalty to the opera world. 

I will not attempt to voice any sort of reflection on the opera performance having no background in this area – all I can say, try to experience its magic while it lasts from November 6 through December 4.