I was on the phone to someone at work today trying to fix a time to meet. I looked at my calendar and realised that - irrelevant to work - I had an appointment tonight. Huh, I thought, I had quite forgotten. And I realised I had forgotten my ticket.
I didn't think it would be a problem, but thought I would ring the ticket office, anyway, to make sure. They were cool, and said they would have a duplicate waiting for me. Standing at the bus stop on Millbank and travelling across to Covent Garden I felt tired and a little bit uninterested. I picked up my ticket and retired to the Amphitheatre Terrace to while away a bit of spare time.
I did wonder what I was doing there, to be honest. An "Insight Evening" at the Royal Opera House. Fab, just what I want after a day at work, to sit in a lecture room and be lectured at. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Frankly, if I wasn't already here, I'd go home. I don't want insight, I just want to go to operas and enjoy them.
I joined the queue to go into the Clore Studio. The queue stretched a bit across the Amphitheatre Bar, and I really questioned what I was doing here, queuing to be lectured to about an opera that I probably wouldn't have booked to go and see except for the star.
I went into the Clore Studio and chose an 'unreserved bench seat' and perused my programme. I started reading the synopsis but it made my brain hurt. I glanced at the previous page, which I had skimmed and seen as being just the cast list for the forthcoming performances.
My eyes went lower down the page and I realised it contained a programme for the evening's "Insight". Into Cyrano de Bergerac by Alfano. Two hours, no interval. Great, I thought sarcastically and drearily. Get me out of here. Get me home.
The evening's agenda was Francesca Zambello, Director; then Mark Elder, Conductor, with Marina Poplavskaya (soprano) and Paul Wynne Griffiths (Cover Conductor) to illustrate aspects of the score.
And to finish off, a round-table discussion with Mark Elder, Sondra Radvanovsky and Plácido Domingo.
OH MY GOD!! I silently exclaimed!!! I can't for the life of me remember why I got this ticket, but, bloody hell, I'm glad I did. Frantically texting to the members of SOSSLED whose mobile numbers I have.
I'm at the Cyrano Insight Evening. Full SOSSLED report later.
I get a text back "Is Placi there?". Conscious that the woman next to me was giving me looks of complete daggers. I mean imagine, you're at an event and this chav next to you is sending and receiving texts....don't worry, my phone was firmly on silent. So all I could reply was "Will be."
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Both Francesca Zambello and Mark Elder were interesting, definitely giving insights into this opera I shall be seeing four times, including the Dress Rehearsal. I won't go through the details. But I tell you, I was shocked to realise the story isn't about a Jersey-based detective, after all, which I thought it was...
There was one, or rather two, really quite funny moments. Imagine the scene. This is basically a ballet studio, with benches at one end, and a six foot high screen positioned to make the room smaller. A bit like being in a school gym, or perhaps a school hall. Affixed to this four panel screen are three framed pictures of Plácido in various roles he's played.
Mark Elder has launched forth on a detailed description of something or other, and suddenly there's a loud thud from behind him, that makes him jump. Makes us, the audience jump, too, but we can see what happened, one of the pictures had fallen down, and we've all collapsed laughing.
Mark pauses for a moment then says "One of the cast members is a Mr Caruso. So imagine the dressing rooms, the signs on the doors: We have Mr Caruso, Mr Domingo..." Dramatically, he turns round and indicates the empty space where the fallen picture previously had been. "And that must be the ghost of Mr Gigli..." Cue audience collapse with laughter.
Time moves on and Marina Poplavskaya (who's cover for Roxanne) takes her place at the music stand and launches into Roxanne's aria. Just a few bars in, another thud, another picture fallen, audience laughter and Marina also laughing. Paul Wynne Griffiths stands up and takes the third one down, giving Marina time to compose herself before starting the aria again. And very fine she sounded, too. She's a Jette Parker Young Artist, and she was a fine Third Norn in Gotterdammerung.
And finally we get to the final part of the evening, the round table discussion. Mark Elder returns with the stars of Cyrano de Bergerac: Sondra Radvanovsky and Plácido Domingo. You have no idea how excited I was. Just that, for the previous hour or so, even though I had been listening properly to what was being said, I was also thinking "He's here, I'm going to see him this evening..."
The panel took their seats at the table, and I just spent the next hour or so gazing at Plácido. He looked lovely. He was wearing a dark navy suit, a blue shirt and a navy tie that looked like it had light blue lines on it but the lines were actually rows of dots. He's looking very slender, actually a bit thin in the face. And bearded. (Sigh...).
At first he was being very serious and sensible, describing how he had first thought about singing Cyrano and so on, and I was looking at him, and thinking, I like you so much, but I'm not really feeling right now how I thought I would be feeling if I had known beforehand that I would be seeing you tonight. Then he relaxed, and was at different times, passionate, funny, cool, laid back; he sung a little (Oh! What a gorgeous voice!). There was an amusing story that he and Sondra were telling about, I think the first night, in New York. He's supposed to be throwing stones at her balcony, and she's waiting to hear the sound of stones hitting the house, but she can't. She says he was missing completely, he explained that really he wants to be a cricketer and he was aiming at a very precise spot...he was almost convincing..! Then he stood up and explained that he had changed his technique, but was considering doing a basketball throw instead - and demonstrated how. But he said he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't miss in London!
There was a chance for a few questions and somebody asked him whether he would be singing at the Dress Rehearsal. He said he might or he might not, that at sixty five the voice isn't what it is at thirty five, but he promised he'd be there on 5th May even if he would be speaking the role.
And all too soon the evening was over. I had thoroughly enjoyed myself and laughed a great deal more than I thought I would at an opera insight evening.
And it was a wonderful, wonderful, unforgettable and gorgeous surprise seeing my lovely Plácido. When he wasn't talking his eyes were scanning the audience and at one point, our eyes met. He looked intensely at me and I looked intensely back. He has beautiful passionate twinkling eyes.
