Ganeida's Knots

Hey, Figaro! I'm here.

Figaro here, Figaro there,

Figaro up, Figaro down...

 We are tired, so very, very tired.  And achy.  It has been a big few days.  So having lugged the girl to rehearsal for this we just made our last boat home & had to be back again for the dress rehearsal to tweak the things they didn't get right the night before.  Luckily Star is a happy bunny & it takes more than a few late nights & long days to turn her into a grumpy bum.  Me, I'm doing less well in the let's not be grumpy stakes.  This might be local but we still do big hours travelling.

 So my poor household arrived in scattered bits & pieces to listen to a fabulous concert ~ which is why I rant so much when local artists don't get supported.  I've heard Marie sing her whole life ~ she once sounded rather like Star.  Now her voice is richer, darker, like mahogany & dark molasses, with all the control & naunce years of experience give.  She sang Dido's Lament from Dido & Aeneas for starters. Dimitri I've only heard in class, doing scales, of all things!  He did an absolutly fabulous Largo al Factotum from Figaro [Il Barbiere de Siviglia]~ really, really funny!  Even the kids, like Star, who didn't know the opera got the idea & were hard put not to giggle themselves silly on stage.

In all honesty, half the time I have no idea what I'm listening to ~ I just know when I like it & it sounds good.  The first half of the program had a lot of things I like:  The Findlandia; the humming chorous from Madam Butterfly; the Thais & Faure's Pavane, which I never get tired of listening to.

After the break we did Faure's Requiem ~ which I only like in bits & whose Paradisum I can now never hear without thinking of the ballet.  It was used for a stunning duet in that.

My belongings scattered to their various homes while, as Marie so succintly put it, I went to feed the beast, aka Star!  We are so tired of fast food & I don't think either of us could have faced another Maccas meal so I took her round the corner to the Arabica ~ which turned out to be a great choice.  Having consulted with the girl about how hungry she was as oppossed to how much she could eat without it affecting her diaphram [the things I have to take into consideration!!!!] I decided if I got basically one meal & divided it we'd be about right, which is what I did.  I didn't even get a proper meal as such.  We opted for herb & cheese bread [which was very yummy] & a side salad, which was fresh, crisp & undressed & really lovely!  We should have left it at that but  the Arabica does a spectacular array of desserts & sad to say we succumbed!  It was Star's undoing.  I managed my whoopie pie but Star had gone for the banana & caramal cake & it was just too much in the end.

 Back to the dressing room, which always looks quite haunted with everyone's Blacks hanging desolately from every free projection & not a soul in sight.  I waited till most of the choir had arrived then went & found myself a seat again. And we did it all again!  Good thing I like the music!

And just in case you believe singers don't work hard Star complained bitterly about how hot & sweaty she was after the first concert.  By the time we were running for our boat she was looking white with exhaustion ~ & of course the evening's excitement wasn't done with yet!  As I climbed out of the car I was greeted with that lovely fried electrical smell & I thought if that was my car I was in serious trouble!  It wasn't.  It was someone else's car burning merrily a little further down the car park & as we bolted along the bayside walk for our boat the fire brigade arrived with all it's bells & whistles blaring.

And just so you know, we are performing next week too!  I could sleep for a week!