Today was good. I slept in a little, did a little pilates, did some stuff around the house, emailed my tour info to my immediates, etc. And then I met up with Neil and our friend Julie Ann who was a trainee at Louisville and is now at Milwaukee Ballet in their studio company. We had dinner, gave Julie Ann a brief walking tour of the north loop, went to Lyric Opera to see (Neil in Act 2 of) Puccini's Manon Lescaut, and then had dessert. It was a lot of fun, despite the blistery feet--thank God we're past strappy shoe season and I don't have to put myself through that for another 5 or 6 months! Anyway, it was good to see her and we had a lot to talk about: comparing our new companies, hearing about each other's summer, and catching up on our gossip.
Manon was very good. I'd never heard any of the Puccini, but I'm familiar with a couple arias from the Massenet Manon from my summer of opera a few years back. This one was a little different because it was in Italian and very "Puccini" with the soaring melodies and predictable ending. Somehow, I knew that Manon was going to die.
Of particular note were the overture before Act III, the lovers' duet in Act III, the lighting in Act IV (just, wow), and the minuet in Act II. Also, Finnish soprano Karita Mattila was fantastic as Manon.
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