New York, New York!

New York was pretty awesome. Sad that I only got pretty much a day and a half there, but at least I got that. I'll be back, though! Never fear! ;) Saw Lincoln Center, Soho, China Town, Union Square, Times Square, Broadway, the Apollo, Manhattan, Columbus Circle, etc. Only a smidgen of New York, but it is a beginning. It was also extremely cold! And sadly, some of my pictures didn't turn out so great, but oh well. The highlight of the trip, of course, was THE MET! Ah! I am in LOVE with that place. I don't know how I will do it yet, but I AM going to sing there someday. It is a must. It is SO incredible!

And then there is the show we saw, itself. We ended up only being able to get standing room tickets, but whatever! It was still so worth it! Afterall, it was a sold-out show with three hugely international singers, so I consider it pretty lucky that we got to see and hear it at all.

It actually turned out the be the same production of Donizetti's La fille du Regiment that I saw at the broadcast in the park in Vienna with Katrin and Martin. Same set, staging, costumes, etc. The only difference was that Diana Damrau played Marie instead of Natalie Dessay, and the baroness was someone else. Other than that, same everything else. I loved it, though. It was even better live.

Gratitude 181

And then there is the fact that I saw and heard Juan Diego Florez live. Ah! PHENOMENAL!! I kid you not, the show actually stopped after his arias - twice! - because the audience wouldn't stop clapping. (I was definitely one of them! haha!) He had to break his freeze and give a little head bow before the show could continue. Amazing! Those 9 high C's in his Act I aria were crystal clear perfection...and done with such ease!

We also went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I got to see some stunningly beautiful paintings of Van Gogh, Degas, and Monet, as well as Degas' Little Dancer sculpture that he crafted when he was nearly blind. :) Next time, it is the Museum of Modern Art to see Van Gogh's Starry Night!

In short, New York is pretty awesome. I have to say it is not my absolute favorite city in the world, but it is pretty sweet and hope to return very soon. I think I would like to live there someday, for at least a little while. There were actually a few times this weekend when I would forget where I was and felt a little bit like I was in London, and the subway reminded me of Budapest. There really are quite a few parallels between London and New York if you think about it.

Came back this morning to a snow storm and cancelled classes. Need to get working on that voice again if I am going to sing at the Met! ;)  Until then, I await my next adventure...which I hope isn't too far from now...