We enjoy opera at the Kennedy Center.
The venue is elegant and spacious. Below is a view of the grand foyer photographed from the upper level of the opera house.
Inside the opera house, a special curtain was added for La Traviata. The curtain, called a scrim, was printed with an image of the heroine's eyes. Depending on how the scrim is lit, it can appear nearly transparent and reveal the stage behind it. The visual effect is amazing.
When Susan first saw the curtain, she thought the image might be Audrey Hepburn. Another attendee said it looked like opera singer Maria Callas. What person do you see when you look at the image on the curtain?
In addition to the curtain, the setting in the countryside outside Paris had a artistic backdrop. It resembled an Impressionist scene of nearby trees. In the photo below, the backdrop is hard to see, but you can see trees if you look closely.
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| La Traviata, Act II, a view of the country house with Impressionist backdrop (from Kennedy-Center.org) |
Below is a Monet painting similar to the lovely backdrop.
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| Poplars on the Epte by Claude Monet (1891) |
The stage of the Opera House is large, allowing for amazing spectacles during the opera, like grand balls and banquets with dozens of beautifully costumed singers and dancers. Below is a photo of the opera house stage during curtain calls at the end of La Traviata.
Thanks for attending La Traviata with us at the Kennedy Center's Opera House.
P.S. Thinking ahead to Year 4 in Paris, does anyone happen to know if Paris has a nice opera house?
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