The Merc has a review of Carmen. I can’t really say if I agree or not … because not only can I not see a speck of the opera, I can’t hear it well either!

This is a problem. True, the reviewer was impressed when the Toreador’s offstage singing got slightly off and the Maestro, George Cleve, and the orchestra “caught” it and managed to make it work … but that was only because we are playing very softly at that point. One of these days there’s going to be a major crash because if I can’t hear the singers, certainly the musicians under the stage must not be able to hear. And if something gets totally off we may not understand what the Maestro is indicating when he or she is attempting to pull it together. This is, to me, frightening. We desperately need a monitor! Or even more than one monitor since we are at three different levels in the pit. The quality of the operas is going to suffer and it seems as if those in charge might finally come to that conclusion as well. At least I hope so.

I didn’t even realize that Adam Flowers was singing both Saturday and Sunday … I can’t hear the voice well enough to know that Etsel Skelton was out due to illness. This happened with Tosca as well (although that time it was Adam who was out and Etsel who was in).

Anyway, I still love the California Theatre. I still love Opera San José. I just wish we could hear things better and … if I had all my wishes granted I’d actually love a video monitor as well.

I can dream … right?!

Rambling over and out. Time to teach!
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