If you ask me which opera I prefer I would not hesitate and say Rigoletto. In both, the heroine dies for no opera that I know has a happy ending. What I like very much about the operas at St James is that during the intervals personalities taking part are interviewed and we get to see the goings on backstage.
Manon lasted for four hours and they passed like a flash with Manon sung by Anna Netrebko. It was faultless as far as I was concerned. But I believe I am not alone in thinking that Dimitri Plantanias who played the court jester Rigoletto, stole the show. The love he had for his daughter was palpable and totally moving. Rigoletto lived for his daughter Gilda. She made his otherwise sad life, worth living. Plantanias singing and acting were extraordinary. It is my first encounter with him. I must say, I could have done without them.
We are so lucky to be able to enjoy these excellent productions without having to pay a small fortune for our tickets. For years the church discouraged women from working outside the home.
In fact, I am old enough to recall a law whereby the moment a woman got married she was asked to resign her job if she worked with government. Now government is pleading for women to go out and work. Not because it has suddenly fallen in love with them but because we have one of the lowest, if not the lowest percentage of working women in Europe and the pensions coffer desperately needs propping up.
The only way this can be done is by encouraging women to leave their aprons at home and go and find some job or another, if only part-time. And men are slowly but surely liking the idea of a working wife… but not only.
