Down the stairs and into a small back room at Jimmy's No. 43 (a bar) was a group of tables and an audience of perhaps fifty people to see The Judgment of Paris, a 1703 opera by--well actually four composers (and probably more, but four at the moment) who wrote musical settings for this. One version was lost, but the Morningside Opera was determined to present the other three.
Which was a complication because I had a teleconference at the time it was supposed to start. Not really a problem, I thought, I will sit in the car, miss the first opera and watch the other two. Alas, they weren't doing three operas, they were doing a pastiche of all of them. My noble husband managed to switch our tickets to a later performance.
Now about the opera which was performed by a cast of unknowns (they ran out of programs, a sure sign of unexpected success). There is a listing of the cast at the Morningside website, however, as well as a New York Times Review with the cast listed (Sept 2, 2011, C 3). Paris is charged with judging which of three Goddesses is the most beautiful and awarding the golden banana to the most beautiful. Paris sings, "When each is undressed, I'll judge of the best" and they disrobe to a rather modest limit. The music of Eccles, Purcell and Weldon is lovely. Each singer had a rather straight aria and a "character" aria. Juno, for example, did a bit as a dominatrix. Very funny. The performances were charming and clever. It was a lot of fun.
Which was a complication because I had a teleconference at the time it was supposed to start. Not really a problem, I thought, I will sit in the car, miss the first opera and watch the other two. Alas, they weren't doing three operas, they were doing a pastiche of all of them. My noble husband managed to switch our tickets to a later performance.
Now about the opera which was performed by a cast of unknowns (they ran out of programs, a sure sign of unexpected success). There is a listing of the cast at the Morningside website, however, as well as a New York Times Review with the cast listed (Sept 2, 2011, C 3). Paris is charged with judging which of three Goddesses is the most beautiful and awarding the golden banana to the most beautiful. Paris sings, "When each is undressed, I'll judge of the best" and they disrobe to a rather modest limit. The music of Eccles, Purcell and Weldon is lovely. Each singer had a rather straight aria and a "character" aria. Juno, for example, did a bit as a dominatrix. Very funny. The performances were charming and clever. It was a lot of fun.
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