Ciao Tutti,
Before the opera yesterday, I went to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant near the theater that was highly recommended on TripAdvisor. The food was great, but very expensive. For a dish of gnocchi and a water, I paid €23. I just did not want to cut it close and make sure I had plenty of time to get to the theater.
The theater itself was absolutely breathtaking. It was like an opera house from the movies. There was a large section for floor seating and about seven or eight balconies, one on top of the other, around the perimeter of the floor seats. Each seat had a mini-subtitle screen in front of it with the option of following along in Italian or English. The seats were small and there was less legroom than we have on airplanes!
The opera itself was called Luisa Miller and it had many parallels to Romeo and Juliet. First, let me say that I somehow lucked out and got tickets for opening night.
Now, I'll try to summarize the story. Luisa is in love with a man named Carlo and intends to marry him. A man named Wurf, however, asked Luisa's father for his permission to marry her a year ago. Luisa's father said no because marriage should not be arranged, but by choice. Wurf is angered by the news and tells Luisa's father that Carlo is not who he says he is. Carlo is actually named Federico, the son of the Count, the despised ruler of the land. When Luisa finds out and confronts Federico (Carlo) about this, he says that his love for her is true and he disguised his identity just so he could be with her.
When Federico returns home, his father, the Count, tells him that he has arranged a marriage between Federico and the Duchess of Germany. Federico tries to tell the Duchess that he is in love with another women, but she refuses to listen. The Count then goes to Luisa's house to try to break up the marriage, but Luisa's father threatens to kill him and Luisa and her father are arrested. Federico threatens to tell everyone how his father really gained control of the land which compels the Count to grant Luisa, only Luisa, her freedom.
Luisa's father is then put on death row for trying to kill the Count. Wurm comes to Luisa's house and tells her that the only way to save her father's life is to write a letter saying she never loved Frederico, but she had discovered his wealth much earlier and was a status seeker. She also had to say she loved Wurm. After much internal debate, she decided to write it and save her father's life.
Wurm took the letter and sent it to Federico and brought Luisa to confess her "lies" to the Duchess of Germany, the woman that was supposed to marry Federico. Federico is shocked by the letter and, after some motivation from the Count, decides to marry the Duchess immediately.
Luisa then intend to kill herself and writes a letter to Federico asking him to do the same so they can be happy together in heaven. Luisa's father returns home and discovers the letter and convinced her to stay alive and tear up the letter. They agree to run away at dawn so she does not have to marry Wurm.
Federico then visits and poisons Luisa's drink. He asks her if she really meant what she wrote in the letter, that she was a status seeker, and fearing any retaliation against her father, says the letter was true. He then beckons her to drink (she does not know it is poisoned) and drinks it. Federico tells her it is poisoned and she tells him the truth. He wants to join her in heaven, so he drinks it, too. As she is dying, her father walks in and is distraught by the news. Then, Wurm and the Count come and, Federico, with all the strength left in his body, kills them both. Then, he dies as well.
If that's not a happy story, I don't know what is. The actual talent was phenomenal and the set was pretty cool. The whole stage was on an incline, just like the old Shakespearean plays. The Italians applaud much more than we do in the States. I actually heard a lot of people yelling "Bravi!" and some applause lasted for at least a minute! Also, the singers came out at the end of the first act as a group and took three bows. Then, at the end of the opera, they came out three different times as a group and took three bows. Then, they each came out and took an individual bow. For me, it was a bit excessive.
After the opera, I went to one of the only things still open at midnight, McDonald's. I am now embarrassed to report that I have had something from McDonald's in every country I have traveled to so far his trip. I did, however, find a first, the €1 menu! I had a hamburger and fries for just €2. Not bad at all.
Then, I headed back to my hostel and crashed. Now, I'm on a train on my way to Lake Como. Maybe I'll meet someone famous.
Michele
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