Day Two-and-a-half

 Our first performance was "Turn of the Screw", an adaptation of a novella by Henry James, composed by Benjamin Britton, probably the most renown English composers of the twentieth century.  I expected the music to be difficult to listen to, but was surprised at both its harmonies and its appropriateness to the libretto.  The story, itself is weird, about a governess and two children who are influenced, or maybe even possessed by two ghosts who present as dangerous and/or potentially harmful.  The story progresses along the lines of the governess becoming aware of the presence of these two pernicious influences and her commitment to safe guard them. Ultimately she fails to protect the boy and he dies.  The your girl is rescued by the housekeeper and presumably survives once removed from the haunted estate.  The staging is interesting because there are two scenes which involve water, one a river, and the other a lake.  There is a lot of playing in the water, which can't have been easy to depict.  The opera leaves one with more questions than answers.

The staging is spare and all takes place in one room of the estate. Here is a picture of what we encountered as we entered the theatre for the production.  The set is open to the backdrop of the scenic location.

Our third day began with Oliver, who processed (endlessly!) the reactions of the group to "The Turn of the Screw."  Many hated it.  Some (including myself) found it interesting if a little confusing and ambiguous as to theme and storyline.  Others, of course, thought it was great.  The majority of the time was spent trying to understand the opera, which seems a waste of time, since Henry James intended for the story to be open ended and unresolved.  Oliver was his usual charming and provocative self and the whole thing went on too long for my tastes.

The end of the session consisted of a guest from the props department who talked about what is involved in providing props for a season at The Santa Fe Opera.  A lot of her conversation ended up being about the great advantage of being a intern at SFO and the great job prospects that derive from it.  She also offered some suggestions of props to look for in upcoming productions.

Lunch was at a local restaurant in Santa Fe, some walking distance from the hotel.  I ordered something I thought would be easy to eat, since I am having a little discomfort with my lower partial denture.  It was listed as a shrimp and avocado salad and it arrived ask advertised, but with the bed of lettuce being a combination of spring mix and endive, both of which do not meet my definition of easy to eat.  To make matters worse, I slopped dressing down the front of my shirt and it immediately stained!  I chose to not go on the walking tour of downtown Santa Fe, as I did that last year.  If you want to see pictures of that tour, check last year's post.

I walked back to the hotel on my own and passed by the plaza where there were some native dancers performing. I watched for a bit and then returned to the hotel for a nap!

Tonight's performance is "La Bohme", which I have seen more times than I can count.  Still, I'm relly looking forward to it as it is one of my favorite operas.