A Night at the Opera

 July 10, 2024, part two

We go to the Opera

We met up with our group at 6:00, and had introductions.  We are diverse—a Swiss man, a German man, a man from New Zealand, a British/Australian woman, a British man, and the remainder, seven Americans.  We got the organizational details done during dinner, and those with the energy (four of us, including me but not Leah) went to the main square to experience Mongolian opera.  The square is enormous.  At one end is the government/parliament building, with Genghis Khan sitting in command: 


At the other end an opera stage was set up. 

 


Playing was Three Sad Hills composed by Bilegiin Damdinsüren in 1950.  “It was the first opera performed in Mongolia, debuting on December 30, 1950 at the opening of the country's first music theatre.  The opera is set in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. It tells the story of three young herders who get lost in a sandstorm and die of thirst in the desert. The opera explores themes of love, loss, and the harsh realities of life in the Mongolian countryside.” (Perplexity) 

The staging was extravagant, and the voices were excellent, especially the bass.

 

There were horses:

 

And there were Bactrian camels which I almost missed:

 

The audience was huge, with loads of children.  We saw about an hour of it, and returned to the hotel.  Up early to start our visit to the Naadam Festival tomorrow.

Comments

  1. Ann Carol GoldbergJuly 10, 2024 at 9:29 AM

    The Met has unimaginable competition. Mongolia shines. Multiple stages too. Enjoy.

    ReplyDelete

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