Friends
I know that most of you don't know each other.... Atlanta; Santa Rosa, CA; Silver Springs, Maryland; Milwaukie, Oregon. Although two of you are friends I met at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio 1970-1975: David Goldsmith (Maryland) and David Studhalter (Oregon), David S having taught me love of Mozart (and also, how to drive a stick-shift car, VW). Ted Ricketts and I were classmates at Antioch Junior High School and Antioch High School, Antioch, CA back in the Pleistocene Era. Ted has gone on from being trumpet player extraordinaire to be composer of music for Disney. And his wife, Sherilyn Draper, see details for both: https://symphonypopsmusic.com/about/
In case you are not familiar with Met Opera Live in HD: I have been going for years (in Atlanta, and now, Sebastopol, CA) and absolutely love - and recommend - it.
I was fortunate to attend the Met Opera in NYC one time long ago (La Traviata, Giuseppe Verdi AKA Joe Green 
). I was lucky to be able to be able to visit NYC often when I was living in Boston/Cambridge 1983-1992, as it was an easy train ride from South Station in Boston to NYC Penn Station - so could see many wonderful things, including Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Blue Note club in Greenwich Village (Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Turrentine, Dexter Gordon, Paquito d'Rivera, the bIilliant, lost-too-soon Noel Pointer, jazz violinist Noel Pointer Noel Pointer - Night Song 1977 , The Cloisters, Ellis Island, Lower East Side (Tenement Museum, NOT to be missed https://www.tenement.org/ ), Central Park and so on. It was great to see La Traviata live at the Met, but in that venue, you have a static view of the stage - likely at a distance, due to the cost of tickets.
). I was lucky to be able to be able to visit NYC often when I was living in Boston/Cambridge 1983-1992, as it was an easy train ride from South Station in Boston to NYC Penn Station - so could see many wonderful things, including Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Blue Note club in Greenwich Village (Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Turrentine, Dexter Gordon, Paquito d'Rivera, the bIilliant, lost-too-soon Noel Pointer, jazz violinist Noel Pointer Noel Pointer - Night Song 1977 , The Cloisters, Ellis Island, Lower East Side (Tenement Museum, NOT to be missed https://www.tenement.org/ ), Central Park and so on. It was great to see La Traviata live at the Met, but in that venue, you have a static view of the stage - likely at a distance, due to the cost of tickets.
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The fantastic thing about The Met Live in HD - aside from the fact that you can see a performance for something around only $25 and no need to fly to NYC$$$$, is the way these performances are filmed. As I learned long ago when I first started watching them, filming is done via ~1000 robotic cameras (I learned at that time, might be different now). So, with Met Live in HD, you see the action on stage from many different angles, and distances. Some shots are panoramic, so you see the entire stage; then there might be a duet or a scene you can see with close-up shots of just the key performers.... e.g., La Boheme, perhaps a scene of Mimi in final scenes, dying of consumption (i.e., tuberculosis). Of course, given that this is Italian opera, the requisite tragic death scene is there. Amazingly, although Mimi is in the death throes of consumption, she can still belt it out from her deathbed. 
Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu - La Boheme - Sono andati?
(LOVE Roberto Alagna! Very sexy guy, in my opinion. Stupid Angela dumped him for some reason.)
There are "summer encores" playing these months and then the regular season will start up. Being a retired person, I always prefer to go to the Wednesday afternoon performance, a repeat of the main Saturday performance, as it tends to be less crowded. I can almost never find anyone to go with me, but it doesn't matter because wherever you get a seat you are surrounded by fellow opera lovers.... many little old ladies with "blue hair," and numerous young (or old) gay guys, both groups comprising major fans. And I could always chat with whomever was sitting next to me, comparing notes, commenting, praising, whatever.... because we are all there for the same reason.
For you all in ATL... I always went to the Hollywood Regal 24 on Buford Highway... no parking hassles. https://www.regmovies.com/movies/met-summer-encore-la-traviata-2025-ho00018713 But there are others in ATL. I just looked it up via "University of Google," but see that maybe it closed. But there are other options .... Google.
Well, that's it for today. Over and out.
Jean
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Jean Clare Smith, MD, MPH
2233 Versaro Drive
Santa Rosa, CA 95403-8662
Res: 1.707.852.5120
Cell: 1.470.303.5869
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