Feature: ONLINE VIRTUAL OPERA TOUR at Home Computer Screens

This week we look at the virtual works that disappear shortly after July 15, 2021. On the Los Angeles Opera website, Igor Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex is available to stream now thru July 18th. Stravinsky based his opera Oedipus Rex on the ancient Greek tragedy of the same name by Sophocles. Tour members watch it while enjoying an assortment of flaky Greek pastries, Ouzo, and retsina wine.

The 1927 opera, Oedipus Rex, is a highly stylized, ritualistic work. In fact, the composer specifically requested that it be staged with minimal movement, which works well with COVID restrictions. Throughout the course of the opera, a narrator describes the action in English. Stravinsky set his work in Latin but specified that the narration is to be spoken in the language of the audience. The performance will feature incredibly imaginative projected animations created by Manual Cinema, an Emmy Award-winning performance collective, design studio and film/video production company. Music Director James Conlon conducts a stellar cast led by tenor Russell Thomas, LA Opera's Artist in Residence, as Oedipus, the doomed king. Mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges returns as Jocasta, his queen (and mother). Morris Robinson sings the role of Tiresias and Robert Stahley sings the role of the Shepherd. Legendary actor Stephen Fry makes his LA Opera debut as the Narrator in this legendary tale.

Sign-up for Free Access.

LINK: https://www.laopera.org/performances/upcoming-digital-performances/oedipus-rex-2/

We load up the Magic Opera Flying Carpet and travel to the Bay Area. The cabins on the carpet are 1920-era private train cars fitted out with recliner seats, large screens, and modern plumbing. Manon-la-Chat wants to see opera in San Francisco, but I have to talk to a cat-loving staff member to arrange it. "Later, Kitty." Right now I'm loading cat food, litter, cat toys, cat treats-dare I say it? A leash-and some new bowls for the trip.

San Francisco Opera's schedule of free opera streams for July: Janáček's Jenůfa July 10-11, Berlioz's Les Troyens (The Trojans) July 17-18, Strauss' Elektra July 24-25, and Verdi's Luisa Miller July 31-August 1.

Readers who donate to San Francisco Opera can also access past streams, revisit missed titles and re-watch favorites. Unlock access to titles including Mephistopheles, Romeo & Juliet, The Marriage of Figaro, Rigoletto, Salome, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Tosca by donating $75 or more to support SFO. That is $10.50 per opera stream! Don't miss SFO's rendition of Boito's Mephistopheles. It is magnificent. Tour members watch it while munching on "Flame" barbecue chips and hot Italian sausage. Even our mouth-cooling beer has a hint of habanero. San Francisco Opera's streaming portal closes on August 20.

LINK: https://sfopera.com/streaming

Leaving the Bay Area after midnight, we head Northeast for the cool mists of the Atlantic Ocean and on to Dublin and the wind-swept, rocky, east coast of Ireland with its flocks of squawking sea birds. Dublin is the capital and the largest city in Ireland. Situated at the mouth of the River Liffey, it has an urban area population of over one million. The Gaels settled Dublin during the seventh century CE, and a Viking settlement followed. The city was Ireland's principal settlement after the Norman invasion. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of Ireland. As of 2018, Dublin is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as one of the top thirty cities in the world.

Irish National Opera presents Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Dublin.

One of the most celebrated and popular of all operas-Rossini's comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville is produced by Wide Open Opera, one of the founding companies of Irish National Opera, in 2016 at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. This performance stars Tara Erraught as Rosina, Tyler Nelson as the romantic Count Almaviva, Gavan Ring as Figaro, Graeme Danby as Dr Bartolo, John Molloy as Don Basilio and Mary O'Sullivan as the maid Berta.

Directed by Michael Barker Caven, INO Artistic Director Fergus Sheil conducts.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDbBhzIcYj4&t=1336s

In the morning we savor a breakfast of Boxty Pancakes, a traditional Irish potato patty made by mixing grated raw potato, cooked mashed potato and flour with fresh milk to form a batter. Chefs cook the concoction like a pancake until golden brown. Our Boxty is served alongside a full Irish breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, toast, and tomato slices. We fly on to Reykjavik with full stomachs.

For our arrival in Iceland, tour members need heavy coats, lined boots, and-bikinis. We bus Iceland's thermal Blue Lagoon to catch excerpts from Verdi's La Traviata sung by swimming singers from Icelandic Opera who performed in the pool during European Opera Days 2010. Singers include: Johann Valdimarsson, Greta Hergils, Hulda Bjork Gardarsdottir, and Gissur Pall Gissurarson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdkUMVb5pSI

For a street-food meal, we stop in Reykjavik for pylsur (hot dogs) at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur a well known restaurant that has been serving wieners made from a blend of beef, lamb, and pork for more than 60 years. We order our pylsur "eina með öllu," (with everything), which includes crunchy deep fried onions, raw onions, sweet brown mustard, and a creamy remoulade.

We fly the Carpet east to Hungary at night and arrive at Budapest mid-morning. The history of Budapest began with an early Celtic settlement that became a Roman town. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241. By the 15th century, the city of Buda became a center of Renaissance culture, but nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule followed. After 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity, with Pest-Buda becoming a global city after the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest in 1873. Budapest became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a great power that dissolved following World War I. The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

We make a quick stop at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts but they do not have very much online.

LINK https://www.mfab.hu/exhibitions/european-art-1250-1600/

Then, we head to a downtown restaurant for one of Hungary's most popular dishes, Paprikás Csirke. Pronounced paprikash cheerke, it is our chicken paprikash, a flavorful dish containing chicken parts, onions, garlic, broth, paprika, bell peppers, tomatoes, salt, pepper, topped with sour cream. Hungarian paprika is wonderfully flavorful, but it doesn't travel well. At home, I substitute New Mexico chili.

Hungarian National Opera presents a somewhat old fashioned rendition of Giordano's Andrea Chénier with singers who blast their huge voices to enormous effect. In Andrea Chénier, the lives of the protagonists are subject to the forces of history, betrayal and amorous passion. Along the way, Umberto Giordano's music, full of elegant aristocratic dances and revolutionary songs, captures the atmosphere of Paris before and during the French Revolution. Winner of the 2016 International Opera Award for Young Director, Fabio Ceresa directs to this impressive production at Budapest's Erkel Theatre.

A midnight treat to be excelled nowhere else: Dobos Torta (Drummer Cake). Invented by Pastry Chef Jozsef C. Dobos, it was first served to King Franz Joseph I at the Budapest Exhibition of 1885. This sweet treat is made up of seven delicate sponge layers, each spread with chocolate buttercream and topped with a thick layer of caramelized sugar for a satisfying crack when tapped with a fork. The sides of the cake are coated in ground hazelnuts. In the heart of Budapest's Jewish quarter, tour members eat Dobos torta at a kosher bakery that has been making traditional pastry for over half a century. On returning to LA, tour members can find some similar fare at Canter's Bakery and Restaurant.

At night, we fly straight north over Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to Finland. We park in a suburb of Helsinki and bus to town to enjoy sightseeing from a local city cruise. Later, humans and cat meet to dine on fresh fish at an outdoor restaurant in the main market. Manon's favorite? Raw herring in cream! I get the accompanying onion rings.

Finnish National Opera's 2018 Tosca has English Subtitles. Most Finns speak at least some English because it is taught in their schools from the early grades. In this performance, Ausrin?- Stundyt?- is Floria Tosca, Andrea Carè is Mario Cavaradossi, Tuomas Pursio is Scarpia, and Heikki Aalto is the Sacristan. Christof Loy directs and Patrick Fournillier conducts.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciPRoKKkD0k

In honor of Amin Maalouf, the French/Lebanese librettist of La Passion de Simone, we choose a middle Eastern restaurant. I find the following on the menu: "suzjuk grillad, välkryddad orientalisk korv." I have no idea what it is, but if it's for Valkyries, I want some. The order included a delicious spicy sausage. I guess a Valkyrie could eat that on a bun while bounding across the sky on her winged steed.

The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm presents Saariaho's La Passion de Simone with Anne Sofie Von Otter as Simone Weil. How many lives can a person live in just thirty-four years? Before her early death, the French-Jewish philosopher and mystic Simone Weil took part in the Spanish Civil War, worked in a refugee camp, and taught. She was forever on the move in search of new truth.

The oratorio La Passion de Simone is the third of four collaborations between Finnish composer and Polar Prize laureate Kaija Saariaho and French-Lebanese author Amin Maalouf. They began with the highly acclaimed L'amour de loin. On the structure of Bach's Passions, Saariaho's unique and suspenseful score, performed by court singer Anne Sofie Von Otter, immerses the listener in the life and thoughts of Simone Weil. Recorded in October 2020, in association with the Jewish Culture Association of Sweden, the oratorio is sung in French. With subtitles in English and French, the show is available until July 16, 2021. LINK: https://operavision.eu/en CLICK ON performances, operas, La Passion de Simone.

After some rearranging and a nightcap of Aquavit and chocolate cake, we take off for New York, or really the airport in nearby New Jersey.

We lunch at a Middle Eastern Restaurant in Greenwich Village where we enjoy appetizers of shrimp fried in olive oil with garlic and chili peppers. For the main dish we order organic blackened Zahatar Chicken with an herb salad and crushed fingerling potatoes. Back at the bus, Manon gets a shrimp treat. We have a one-hour bus trip back up to Lincoln Center, but at least we are not in a hurry to catch a theater curtain.

Before the Met's Carmen, we snack in the theater, enjoying cookies with the opera's fresh, pungent coffee. Carmen from 1989 stars: Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Leona Mitchell and Samuel Ramey. The conductor is James Levine.

LINK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbflEsCRIAs

Early the next morning we pack up the Magic Opera Flying Carpet and leave for California to catch The Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl. The Sound of Music stars Melissa Errico, John Schneider with Ben Platt, and Marni Nixon. John Mauceri conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Gordon Hunt directs.

LINK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDvM3HPJQM

Photo of Stephen Fry courtesy of Los Angeles Opera.

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