Meanderings of an opera obsessed mind...

THOMAS ALLEN'S GOING TO COME TO HONG KONG ON AN OPERA TOUR WITH THE BAVARIAN STATE OPERA IN FEBRUARY 2012!

*coughs* Excuse me...I usually don't write in capitals but yeah, HE'S GOING TO COME TO HONG KONG AND SING DON ALFONSO IN COSI FAN TUTTE! After all, I was so annoyed with myself that I didn't know about him when he last came here to do his little recital/concert in March 2006.

I am sooooooo definitely buying tickets for this opera when it comes...he's only going to do two performances on the 23rd (Thursday) and 25th (Saturday) February but I'm ready to fight if I have to to get a pair of tickets! *prays that he really does come and that the tour doesn't get cancelled or something...*

Woot, my opera DVDs have arrived from the US. Finally. After like a month and a week after I ordered them. (And I seriously don't get why shipping from the US takes 2-3 weeks while stuff from the UK can take only a week or so to get here...odd)

But thankfully the copy of Le nozze di Figaro they sent me is different from the one that I have. Although the picture quality isn't as sharp or clear, I admit, as the one posted on Youtube (which is seriously of excellent quality), it's definitely an improvement of my previous version where one couldn't see the bottom half of the screen and therefore couldn't see the floor of the stage which was really disorientating. I'm more than happy with the Onegin as well since I will be finally able to watch the whole production rather than just snippets of it although there is slightly irritating high pitched noise in the background as the video is being played. But I think that's all due to the fact that it's been ripped from old videos which basically must be nearly 20 to 30 years old. As long as the video and sound are in sync and the picture is clear enough to see the singers' faces (and most importantly, TA XDDD), I'm definitely satisfied.

And while I'm on the subject of opera,  I think I won't be able to see Cosi fan tutte this year...*sad sigh*

Guess I'll have to watch these as consolation until I can find the time/money to see a Mozart opera with TA in it. *crosses fingers that he won't be retiring any time soon and that he'll play Don Alfonso at the ROH in the near future again*

Finally ordered the 1991 Salzburg Figaro and the 1983 Ottawa Onegin just now off that brilliant little opera site I found a while ago. They should (hopefully) arrive within the next two or three weeks! At the moment, I don't really have any great expectations about the quality of the video (seeing that they were most probably ripped from original VHS recordings onto DVDs) but hopefully, they'll be all right (and that the Figaro one is much more clearer and sharper than the sadly distorted copy that I have).

Gah, I'm tired...working on a Saturday is definitely no stroll in the park at times...

The Welsh National Opera book arrived this afternoon =D

Probably the other book will arrive tomorrow or perhaps early next week, who knows. But thank goodness it was quick this time (another repeat of what happened with my Wellington book and I would have killed somebody @_@)

This fellow is extremely lucky, I must say (you'll know why when you read the 10th paragraph).

I mean, what on earth are the chances that you go to your first Billy Budd at Glyndebourne and the person sitting next to you is none other than a celebrated opera singer who is known to have been one of the best Billy Budds in his day? I refer, of course, to Sir Thomas Allen(!). Not only that but the writer also got to have a glimpse of Stephen Fry as well at the opera house!

Anyways, returning to TA....and I find it lovely that both he and his wife didn't boast about who he was and just gave hints as to who exactly he might be. How modest of them. =) And to have the good fortune to sit next to them for the duration of the whole opera (which in this case runs about 2 and a half hours)! I'm rather envious...though if I were in this writer's shoes, I'd also be a little nervous finding myself sitting right next to them.

I'm also quite glad to see that TA's still up and about despite his upcoming eye surgery which means that his condition isn't too serious which is always good news!

I think I've added a new obsession to my list: Reading and watching A LOT of Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Gah, what the heck is wrong with me?

Plus I also think my Phantom interest is returning to me as well...and it's all because of that damn sequel...-___-

Ah well, I might get back to writing my POTO fanfiction then which I've left for quite a long while.

On another note I've realised that we do actually have Easter holidays at HKU next month though only for about a week.

Damn, if only they were longer and that would give me ample time to go over to London and see Il turco in Italia with TA as well as meet my fellow TA fans/friends. Grrr...*swears that this is the umpteenth time that she's hated HKU for meddling with her schedule*

If I don't see Cosi in September, I'll be so annoyed -___-

Came across these pictures on Wikipedia and goodness, isn't the Royal Opera House an absolutely gorgeous building? (I personally like it better than the Met)

One day I'll definitely see it for myself...

It's funny but when I was writing the date down during yesterday's lecture, I noticed it was already the 1st of February. ALREADY. Goodness me, how time flies. It seems only yesterday that it was the start of 2010. Reminds one rather scarily of how life is continually slipping us by, second by second, minute by minute. I better stop here; I'm creeping myself out.

I have no idea why but I got out Roald Dahl's Matilda from my bookshelf the other day and reread the book after what seems like over 7 years. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it despite knowing it was really intended for older children. I knew beforehand that he had a rather wicked sense of humour in his Tales of the Unexpected but I hadn't realised it was also so prominent in his children's books. I doubt a child of ten for example would understand the evil wit in this: 'Your daughter Fiona has the glacial beauty of an iceberg. However, unlike the iceberg she has absolutely nothing beneath the surface.' So you can imagine the laughter which ensued within that very enjoyable three quarters of an hour in rereading the book. Dahl was a fantastic writer; no doubt about it.

I've been buying a lot of books lately. I think I've realised that I really have to get back to reading again after basically a year of messing about since the start of my time at HKU. I've noticed too that Page One is getting more British history books (finally!) and therefore I'm very happy about this turn of events. The other day I bought a book about the famous 95th Rifles of Wellington's army (it's the same regiment that one of my favourite fictional characters is in, Richard Sharpe) and am so far enjoying it as well. I think I also need to reread some Austen since I need to remember how she wrote in trying to get more chapters of my Sense and Sensibility fic up. Oh, fanfictions...how you are the joy and bane of my life at times. *sigh* Sometimes I hate the fact that one has to really be in the mood to write something worth reading by other people. The bane of all writers, I think.

I still can't believe it but I've actually set up another blog (a Wordpress one) specifically revolving about opera...I am awed at times at how my interest in opera has spiraled during the past year and a half or so. Two years ago, I would have scorned the notion of liking the artform. Now I can't get enough of it. The joke's on me as usual XD

Better toddle off to bed...quite tired after a rather long day. =)

Hurrah! A free day for me today...but not exactly a day of relaxation from academia since a) the toes on my left foot have decided to swell up thus making it almost impossible to walk comfortably or put on shoes (I tried and accordingly suffered by doing so yesterday since it just made them more swollen) and b) the joint in my right wrist seems to have been sprained or something since I can feel a twinge of pain from time to time even as I type. Why, oh why, has my body decided to give me a heck of a lot of problems since the end of 2009? *sigh*

Some annoying person has kind of stolen one of my fave userpics (my past default one which has a bearded TA gazing intensely at the camera) and used it in their blog without crediting me. Though I'm glad that they appreciate him as much as I do, it kind of pissed me off since I did make them myself and sort of for my own use. I'm probably feeling irrationally over-protective (they aren't my pictures, after all) but still...GRRRR...hence the change of default user pic to the one I'm using now which I made a year ago when my opera obsession had only just started. When I made it, there didn't seem anything special about it but now that I look back, the La Scala Don Giovanni icons are actually quite pretty =) I guess that since I'm talking about this point now, I might as well announce: PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY ICONS!!! And if you really want them, at least INFORM or CREDIT me before you decide to use them! That also goes for my mood theme.

I really want to go to see Cosi fan tutte at Covent Garden in September but again, HKU is messing up my plans since the term starts at the beginning of September. I have no idea at the moment how to work that out. TA's also doing Cosi in Munich in July, a time when I'll definitely be free and on vacation but seriously, will I be able to manage in Germany when my German is almost non-existent? Plus I have no idea what this production looks like, I know the ROH production much better. But I'll think about that...I might try going to Germany instead if I can't make it to London in September. O_O

HKU has also decided to mess up an opportunity to meet my fellow Allen affectionados in April in London since the deadlines and lectures simply clash with the performance dates...and this is the second time it has foiled a meeting with them. *grumbles* If I was going to Durham instead of HKU, the term wouldn't start until October...thus making going to see Cosi much more easier. *sigh* Out of all the goals I've set for myself, I'm definitely saying to myself that I MUST see TA as Don Alfonso since he is known foremost as a Mozartian and that sadly, I'll never be able to see him in his other celebrated Mozart roles, i.e. Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva, Papageno and Guglielmo for obvious reasons. Probably if I were given a choice to have him play a character that he used to play in the past now, I'd choose the Count. Of course it's a hard choice between the Don and the Count but I must say the latter is more of a favourite for me. To see that live would be fantastic.

The history course I was writing about yesterday did not disappoint. It's definitely the most interesting of courses of this semester and I'm looking forward to the forthcoming lectures...I might actually choose the topic for a dissertation and investigate the sanitary and medical conditions of 19th/early 20th Century Hong Kong and relate them to the Volunteer Corps stationed here or something. Or even see how the British/Canadian POWs managed to keep disease at bay during their internment during WWII. I'm also beginning to think that I might choose the professor as my supervisor as well since he's probably the expert here for such things.

On the other hand, the compulsory science and technology course which came right after the history lecture was simply the most boring lecture in the history of lecture-giving ever. It was all about ENERGY and to have all those various examples of energy (kinetic, electric, potential, renewable etc, etc) just explained to us one after another for TWO hours straight was almost unbearable. Some actually left after the first hour and I was sorely tempted to do the same but being the polite person I am, stayed on...hoping perhaps that the second half was better. It wasn't (even GCSE science was far more interesting) and I'm really wondering how on earth will I be able to sit through the remaining lectures until the end of term. -___-

"Opera is the most expensive noise known to man." - Moliere

Sorry, I just read that on the back of this audiobook of the history of opera and just found this quote hilarious...it obviously seems that Moliere wasn't a big fan of opera XDDD