A beautiful weekend away from it all

Sometimes you just need to get away and away is absolutely where I got to last weekend. Forever friend Melinda and I decamped to NYC for thirty-six hours of culture and inspiration. After checking into our amazing hotel in Times Square (The Chatwal–I really could have hung out in the sparkly bathroom with the heated toilet seat a little while longer), we took a cab over to the Metropolitan Opera House, where we had tickets for Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore. Our evening began with dinner at The Grand Tier Restaurant with seats overlooking the winding staircase so that we could people watch to our heart’s content. Our meals were delicious; grilled octopus and duck liver mousse followed by halibut and salmon with trout roe.

First two courses finished and dessert ordered, we found our seats just before the curtain rose. I was entranced—a visual and auditory spectacle all the way around. At the intermission we returned to the Grand Tier for espressos and a baked alaska and chocolate mousse. Twenty minutes later we were back in our seats for the final acts. One of my personal highlights was the tremendous applause received by the tenor playing Nemorino, Mario Chang, at the conclusion of ‘una furtive lagrima‘ (follow link for bizarre/humorous interpretation), the romanza from act 2, scene 8. The following morning we learned that this had been Mario Chang’s premier as Nemorino and that he hails from Guatemala. At any rate, he was much moved by the applause and cheers (bravo!) and it felt like both a personal triumph (for Mario) and one for those of us in the audience as well—that we had been witness to such artistry.

Anyway, all good operas must come to an end and we finished our evening with a quick nightcap (still of the non-alcoholic variety pour moi) in the bar back at the hotel. I was sorry that it was so late as I could have spent several hours reading magazines while snuggled under the voluminous duvet. However, we had more scheduled fun early the next morning.

And that would be….backstage at the Met! What a way to round out my first opera experience. Going backstage was sort of like seeing the inner workings of an automaton. The sheer magnitude of it all! A highly recommended addition to a live performance.

Post tour we caught yet another cab over to the Guggenheim where we had lunch before taking in the Peter Fischli/David Weiss show, ‘How to Work Better.’ Whimsical but also provocative, this collaboration of two Swiss artists is absolutely delightful. It was a bonus when a side gallery revealed several paintings from one of my personal favorites, Kandinsky.

Have I mentioned that this was my first opera ever? And a very special gift from Melinda and her husband Kihan. Also, I had not been in an art museum in New York City since my teens, a situation that required rectifying. Thank you dear friends–it was oh so fun and absolutely magical!