Tosca

   We had such an incredible time breaking free from our wild and woolly life here on the farm in Frascati, and going to the opera in Rome. I discovered that Puccini's Tosca was playing at the same opera house in which it debuted in 1900. What a thrill! Ron and I got all dressed up and had the evening of the year. I actually cried when entering the theater--it is more beautiful than my imagination had been able to speculate.
    One of the most amazing parts of it was to listen to the opera sung in Italian by Italians in Italy, and to know Italian so much better than ever before. It was more like watching Phantom of the Opera in New York--just a play set to music. Ron and I were fixated on the expressions, idioms, and syllables dropped to make the score work.
    My favorite scene (probably everybody's favorite scene and why the opera is so adored by opera fans): a powerful politician tries to take advantage of Tosca, a beautiful diva. She doesn't know anyway out, so she consents. . . and before anything happens, she stabs the living h*ll out of the guy! It was just plain awesome! And then she lays a crucifix on his dead body!
    We thought about our friends, Joan and Patrick Dennison. Patrick once played the lead male role in Tosca, and he and Joan were deep into the professional opera life in Italy years ago. We love the Dennisons and had them on our minds and in our hearts throughout the evening.