a night at the opera

The Kyiv Opera House is the most beautiful building I have ever been in (winning out over even the Kharkiv train station). It's decorated in cream, gold, and deep, deep red, with all sorts of intricate architectural details in the moldings. Madam Butterfly itself was very good, with many talented voices, a good orchestra, and a cute little kid (who played Butterfly and Pinkerton's son) who seemed to be enjoying riding the little rocking horse on stage. However, it was definitely very warm on the third level, where our seats were.

I also found Madam Butterfly to be a tri-lingual experience--the opera itself was in Italian, the titles above the screen were in Ukrainian, and there was a synopsis of the story in English in our programmes. It was interesting for Jason and I afterward to compare our respective experiences; neither of us know Italian, although we could pick up a few cognates here and there, but while I could follow along fairly well with the Ukrainian titles and tried to follow the lyrics and the nuances of the plot, he understood the basic plot and simply enjoyed listening to the music.

I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer, not an expatriate businesswoman living in Kyiv. I live in a small town where everyone pretty much knows me by now, walk almost everywhere I go in almost any weather, and have learned to exist without running hot water. But once in a while, it's nice to feel princessy and go to the opera. I think I'll have to go again some time.