Well, gentle readers, I am returned from the nation's capital after a weekend the like of which I have never before experienced and which I never expect to see again. I went sight-seeing, I attended what may be the grandest ball in Washington history, I saw a splendid opera performance at the Kennedy Center and then went back-stage to meet Maestro Plácido Domingo, I went to a baseball game, I met hoards of people, many of whom seemed to want to spoil me, and I had delicious food and beverages almost non-stop. I arrived back in Portland late last night and am still in a wondrous daze.
There really is so much to tell you that I thought I would post something here each day this week. The really fun stuff will begin tomorrow when I have had an opportunity to gather my thoughts somewhat. What I can tell you today is that Goldie and I had a very good flight, non-stop, to Washington on Wednesday, arriving mid-afternoon. We took a shuttle bus into the District (as locals call it, I learned) and the traffic was a nightmare. It took four and one half hours to get from Portland to Dulles and nearly half that time to get from Dulles to the hotel! We had reservations at the Mayflower Hotel, just a hop, skip and jump from the White House. It is not a run-of-the-mill hotel; as well as having provided luxurious accommodation for travelers for many years and being the place Eliot Spitzer chose for the trysts which saw the dénoument of his political career, the Mayflower is also on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. I suggest you click on the link above and read about it; there's some interesting stuff in there.
Sunday was our final day in D.C. and there was no suggestion we take it easy and rest up for our trip home. Goldie hosted a brunch for 30 people at an excellent Italian restaurant in Georgetown. In addition to numerous members of her family who, if not local, made the trip from Baltimore and Pittsburgh, we invited Priscilla and Larry, Timm Burrow and his Larry, Marsha LeBoeuf, Liam Bonner and Imani Mosley. Liam is a new friend who I believe has a great career before him. It doesn't hurt his chances that he is very tall, handsome and charming. Imani is a bassoonist friend of mine who has just graduated with a double Masters from Peabody. She and I have exchanged emails and tweets over the last couple of years. She is an expert on the English composer Benjamin Britten so she and I have much musical stuff in common and it was a delight to see her in person at last. We had also invited Anne Midgette, music critic from the Washington Post, who has been a correspondent of mine for the last year, and Michelle Pendoley from Washington National Opera. Unfortunately, Anne was in Seattle and couldn't attend and a heavy work-load from Opera night kept Michelle in her office. We missed them both.
Most of Saturday morning and the early part of the afternoon was spent recovering from sensory overload. Goldie and I kept talking over and over about the wondrous events of the night before. We would remember little things and talk about them all over again. You know how that goes. We had planned to go to see the Vietnam War Memorial but really we lacked the energy to do that so we went and had a late breakfast and relaxed for a few hours. Then it was time to shower and don the dinner jacket again for our trip to the Kennedy Center where we were to be the guests of Washington National Opera at a performance of Hamlet. I had seen the Met HD transmission a couple of months ago so was not totally unfamiliar with the piece and was excited that the performance was to be conducted by Maestro Domingo.
Friday morning in D.C. was spent sightseeing. A long walk from the Mayflower to the Capitol building then a saunter down the Mall before taking the Metro back to the hotel. Perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing building I saw was the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian (seen to the left). The afternoon was spent resting up and then it was time to dress for dinner at the Luxembourg embassy. The hotel told me to allow 15 or 20 minutes to get there but in fact it was quite a short trip and we arrived a few minutes before the appointed time of 7pm and waited outside before ringing the bell . We were ushered in to the reception room where we were greeted by His Excellency Jean-Paul Senninger and his lovely wife, Louise. A handful of guests had already arrived and the atmosphere was jolly, cosy and very friendly. Within minutes Goldie led a woman over to me who was saying how clever the winner of last year's operaplot competition was. She then began to recite my winning tweet "There was a young lady called Fricka..." without having the least clue that I was its author. I think you can imagine that this was a somewhat bizarre experience but I took it to be an omen of a splendid night to come. In all, twelve of us sat down to dinner, including the White House correspondent for the Russian news agency TASS, the comptroller of finances for the WNO, a tenor and his boyfriend and a charming lady from Luxembourg. She sat to my left. She had done her graduate work at Cambridge University so we immediately had something in common to chat about. The talk at table was relaxed, jolly and there was much laughter.
Thursday morning, we awoke relatively bright and early. After a good night's sleep and a hearty brunch at a nearby cafe it was time to head off to the Washington National Opera costume shop. This is situated on the outskirts of the District - so much on the outskirts that the front door opens onto D.C. while the back door leads into Maryland! A twenty minute Metro ride from the Mayflower deposited Goldie and me just blocks from the building and we arrived at 2pm sharp. It had been arranged that I would meet Marsha LeBoeuf, Director of Costuming, and Timm Burrow, Senior Costume Coordinator, both of whom were instrumental in making such a special occasion for Priscilla last year. I had also emailed Priscilla in advance to tell her of the plans and she said she would try to be there as well. As we arrived, Timm was at the door with Marsha and Priscilla right behind him. I think you can imagine that it was a very emotional moment for all of us, and particularly for Priscilla and me. There were tears and hugs and smiles as broad as the Mississippi. I had seen many pictures of Priscilla and we had spoken on the telephone many times so I had a very good idea of what she looked like and how she sounds when she talks. It took just a very few minutes for me to understand some of her other qualities that made all who met her from the National Opera company fall in love with her. She is beautiful, gracious, warm and all-around wonderful. It was a delight to see how close she and Timm Burrow had become. It was Timm who took Priscilla shopping for her ball gown and was then responsible for fitting it to her and that process seems to have bound them together for life. Each privately talked to me about the other and it is clear that they adore each other.
Operaman Goes to Washington
Oh, no! Not another modern opera!
I am very happy - and proud - to be able to tell you that my Tweet about Don Giovanni scored Operaman an Honourable Mention in this year's Twitter #operaplot contest. There were just short of 1000 entries which led to the awarding of five first prizes and 3 Honourable Mentions. My prize is Great Operas from The Bayreuth Festival, a 33 CD set from Decca. I thought that the general standard of entries this year was somewhat higher than in last year's contest. If you want to have a look at what some inventive minds came up with