wine-ding down in Bordeaux

Hey All! It's another quiet Tuesday night, at least for me. Brenda is at work singing the 4th of 5 performances of Ariadne auf Naxos. The first performance, a.k.a. the premiere, was a huge success for all of the performers. The audience hooped and hollered most loudly for the 3 main ladies: Elza, Heidi, and Brenda. I wish I could tell you that the audience loved the stage direction, costumes, and sets, but they didn't. I have never heard such loud booing in my life. Personally, I thought the production was pretty good, but what do I know? In any case, Brenda was truly fantastic. This role has some of the hardest music you can find for Brenda's voice type, and she knocked it out of the park. If you care to look at some of the production photos, you can do so here.

The day after the premiere, Brenda and I toured a genuine Bordeaux winery with numerous other members of the opera house. It was interesting to learn about how wine is made and all that, but I think the "wine talking-to-wine testing" ratio could have been tweaked a little. Instead of an hour-long tour with 10 minutes of sampling, 30 minutes of each would have been about right. I decided to keep my suggestion to myself, however. There was an undercurrent of contempt for American wines during the tour, so I figured I had better keep my mouth shut if I wanted to sample anything at all.

The grand return to Frankfurt will be happening this Friday. Personally, I can't wait to get back; I miss my coffee maker. Brenda is also excited to get back for many reasons, chief among them is a two-hour massage she has scheduled for Saturday. Believe me, she's earned it. So I'll check in with you next week from sunny Germany (fingers crossed). Have a great week!