Opera, opera, and more opera! The last two operas of my Met season were two of the best:
1) Satyagraha - a new staging of the 1980 opera by Philip Glass (Satyagraha means "truth force" in Sanskrit). This opera on the life of Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most spellbinding, engrossing, and beautiful performances (of anything!) I've ever attended.




2) La Fille du Regiment - another new production, this time of the 1840 opera by Donizetti. The Met brought out the big guns for this one, with Natalie Dessay as Marie (the "daughter" of the regiment) and Juan Diego Florez as Tonio. On the opening night of Fille, Florez did an encore of "Ah! Mes Amis..." the famous aria with 9 high C's. Of course, after the word spread of this rare Met encore, Florez pulled it out again for this performance. He nailed it. I was much more impressed with this tenor this time around.

I've read countless versions of this story on rental prices in New York, but never cease to be amazed. (Note the small studio apartment photograph that leads the article). Some highlights:

* Average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apt in the Village: $3,100+
* Average monthly rent for a studio apt in the Village: $2,200+
* Average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apt in Manhattan (doorman bldg): $3,500
* NYC landlords often require renters to earn 40 times their monthly rent--i.e. $80,000 a year to afford a $2,000/mo (below average) apartment
* Brokerage fees are usually 15% of the annual rent--or about $3,600 on a $2,000/mo apartment

Opera double-header this week:

1) On Wednesday: Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met. I would not have changed a thing about this production: great voices, beautiful, classic setting, and lush orchestra. All of the leads were fantastic: Salvatore Licitra as Riccardo, Angela Brown as Amelia, the phenomenal Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Renato and the even more phenomenal Stephanie Blythe as the gypsie Ulrica (Ofelia Sala was an uneven but entertaining Oscar). Thankfully, unlike Tristan (see below), there were no accidents in this one. (You can read the NYT Review here).

20 On Thursday: Bernstein's Candide at the New York City Opera. I've always wanted to see a stage production of this, and the NYC Opera did not disappoint. With Daniel Richard as Candide, Lielle Berman as Cunegonde, Kyle Pfortmiller as Maximillian, and (Mad About You and the Sopranos') Richard Kind as the comical Voltaire/Dr. Pangloss. Once one dismisses the rest of all possible productions, one knows that this is the best of all possible productions. (See the NYT review here).

P.S. For the price of my one Met ticket, I could have paid for *four* tickets to the NYC Opera (in the side orchestra), and a glass of champagne.

NYU is in the Final Four--in chess.