Countdown to Paris

I leave in a little over two weeks for Paris, where I will spend most of the 2006-07 academic year. The first performance on my schedule is the Paris Opera's Lucia. Needless to say, I am tremendously excited to finally hear Natalie Dessay in an opera; I heard her only at the Volpe gala, which was, incidentally, the last classical performance I attended. The day after I attend Lucia, I'll witness my first staged Salome. But this is not the Salome production that will be the focus of the eyes and ears of the opera world, of course; the Lyric Opera of Chicago will present Deborah Voigt--my first Salome, in the concert version at Tanglewood in 2001--in a new Francesca Zambello production. Still, I am tremendously excited to see the drama, particularly since Karita Mattila's 2004 performances of the final scene with the Boston Symphony re-awakened my obsession with the opera (discovered at 14) and gave birth to a rich fascination with Oscar Wilde's play.

All this seems faint and stretched out in the distance like a mirage. Check back here and read as the adventure unfolds . . .