Music that is close and familiar

In a single week I've gone to two performances where I know the music through and through - Don Giovanni at Seattle Opera (last Saturday) and last night Pacific Northwest Ballet's Swan Lake.

First of all, it's a supreme treat to hear music that I love live. There is just nothing like live performance. The acoustics in both venues (McCaw Hall and Benaroya Hall) are superb. We are very, very lucky in Seattle to have both a wonderful opera house and symphony hall.

It's a thrill to hear new works, but familiar works provide the chance to really get under the skin of the music -- and I think it's easier to get absorbed in the drama. Truly, I lost all sense of time last night.

Next up we are going to two works I've never experienced live: Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto and Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea. I guess February will a our month for all things Roman. I'll need to study up on Poppea in particular, since it's being staged by the Early Music Guild and I doubt they'll have supertitles. Both promise to be very interesting productions.