Verona (Opera Festival)

Back in June, the last stop on the Mom/Dad/Ernie Italian tour was the city of Verona. When I was there, I saw that each summer the city holds a world famous Opera festival in it's Roman Arena. I made a point to go back and see some opera upon return to Italy and this past weekend, I made it happen.

Romeo and Juliet, that's what we think of when we hear Verona. The biggest tourist draw of the city is the supposed home of the hypothetical Juliet. The home is on the street of "hatmakers."

Supposedly, if you are single, if you rub the breast of the statue of Juliet, you will find love. Umm, Dad, you're married.

Here's a plan of the city. It's placed strategically at the bend in the Adige river. And the gridded street pattern......Roman.

Castel Vecchio at sunset.

Piazza Erbe

The Roman Arena is here in Piazza Bra. It's original stone from the Roman Era and is actively in use.

The first of two shows I saw was Carmen. Here's the set.

An hour before show time, dark clouds moved in!

Three minutes into the performance, DOWNPOUR!! It was quite fun watching the dressed up women sprint for cover. It took about 45 minutes for us to restart.

Some fellow spectators and I took cover underneath seat covers. After the second start it rained again. Then it rained a third time.

Here's the actual staging. By the fourth start, it was midnight and we actually got through 15 minutes of the opera AND we finally saw Carmen. But it rained again, Carmen threw up her hands. And the show was canceled for the night.

It's a bummer that Carmen was canceled because I knew the story and the music as well. The second night, Turandot, was a different story. Although the sets were elaborate and amazing, the music didn't sound much more like screeching. At this point, I'm on the fence about opera. But, I think it's going to take an amazing experience to get me to the "fanboy" side. I'll stick with American Broadway musicals.