Opera in Santa Fe

For the past two opera seasons, the Metropolitan Opera Compamny in New York has broadcast their season's repertoire of operas in real time to selected movie theatres around the country, including the theatre complex in Durango.  My friend Becky has become an opera fan so this summer I had the inspiration that it was time for her to see live opera.

We are fortunate to be in reach of Opera Santa Fe, an amazing company who draws talent from around the planet and has a beautiful outdoor theatre seating 2,128 people.  So, tickets were purchased, hotel reservations made, and off we went.

The drive to Santa Fe is beautiful, through the Abique Canyon where Georgia O'Keefe had her Ghost Ranch, as well as through parts of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  We enjoyed New Mexico's new Folkart Museum that is part of Museums on the Hill, a complex of several marvelous museums as well as part of a day on the Plaza, the original center of the city dating to Spanish beginnings.

Having filled our little picnic cooler with tasty treats and beverages for a tailgate party, we went to the opera grounds early enough to hear one of the pre-opera lectures which I have long wanted to do.  It was a delight and gave us advance insight about the finer points of the rather weak but typical opera plot.

Dining in the parking lot is always a hoot---our next door neighbors had an elaborate setup of spaghetti pot ice bucket for their "bubbly", table and cloth, lots of bowls and trays and baskets, and a small grill on which they appeared to be preparing hot dogs!

Our menu included sesame crackers and chipotle hummus, chilled yellow beet salad with arugula, curried turkey salad, fruit compote and biscochitos. (Thank you, Whole Foods and the La Fonda Bakery!)

The opera was delightful.  We saw "The Pearl Fishers", an opera written by Bizet when he was very young (24) and didn't know he was supposed to follow the rules of Parisian Opera.  It was performed 18 times in his lifetime (right after he wrote it) and then no more---poor guy.

Lovely, "hummable" music; altogether a great production for Becky's first live performance.

Returning home the next day we had an added bonus:  we spotted a large black bear in an open area in northern New Mexico.  We stared at each other for awhile...I could just hear him in a growly voice saying, "What are you two old gals staring at anyway?" (Too bad I didn't have my camera.)

Looking forward to Santa Fe 2013!