Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor Opera -- Pink Satuday

I am taking part in Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly @ "How Sweet The Sound," and my pink contribution for this week is this beautiful vintage opera costume worn in 1907 by the soprano Josephine Jacoby in the role of the Princess di Bouillon at the NY Metropolitan Opera premiere of the opera Adriana Lecouvreur. (please click on the photo to enlarge it to see all the detail in the dress)

Ms. Jacoby can be seen wearing the dress in the photograph below:

I took the photo below in the lower lobby of the Metropolitan Opera house at Lincoln Center when we attended the opera Lucia di Lammermoor last Tuesday evening. It shows the staircase leading up to the parterre seats, and if you click on the photograph to enlarge it you can see how vintage costumes are displayed in glass cases outside the opera hall. I also have photos in this blog post of some other costumes, and also inside the opera hall, taken when we attended the opera Don Giovanni in December, if you'd like to see them also.

The opera Lucia di Lammermoor, by the composer Gaetano Donizetti, is over three and a half hours long, as it takes place in three acts with two lengthy intermissions to allow for set changes, yet the evening seems to float by in a fraction of the time because of its many superb orchestral instrumental solos and bel canto arias.

The opera is set in Scotland and is based on the Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Bride of Lammermoor," which is about a woman forced to marry a man of her parent's choosing instead of her true love. She goes crazy on her wedding night and kills her husband, and then later her jilted lover kills himself. Very dramatic!

In the current Met production the beautiful soprano Anna Netrebko plays Lucia, Mariusz Kwiecien plays her brother Enrico, and Giuseppe Filianoti replaced the ill Rolando Villazon in the role of Edgardo the evening we saw it.

The entire synopsis of the opera can be read on the Metropolitan Opera web site.

Going to the opera is one of the best entertainment values in New York City, and I highly recommend attending a production if you visit the city during the opera season. For more information about the 2008 -2009 season visit the Met web site.

Happy Birthday Dear Son!

Thirty years ago today my first child, my son, was born! I was so happy to hold my handsome, blue eyed, blond haired baby, who delighted me with his fair face and strong and sturdy body.

I enjoyed every moment of his childhood and I marveled at how quickly he grew, and how independent and curious he was. "I'll do it," was his favorite childhood refrain, and he always forged ahead to do just that, and to be the one that many of his peers looked up to.

He excelled in school, in sports, and in his work, while always remaining sensitive and caring about the world and society.
He has dedicated his life's focus towards trying to make the world a better place through the field of education, and I know he's making a difference!


"V" married his beautiful bride in Washington DC, where they had met, and where they both lived and worked after college, until they decided to move west to Colorado to attend graduate school.
They both loved living in the west! The blue skies, wide open spaces and majestic Rocky Mountains nurtured them, and they decided to settle there and make Colorado their new home.


Recently, my son and daughter-in-law were blessed with their first child, and the beautiful cycle of life continues through him. I know "V" will be the best Daddy to our grandson, because his father was the best Dad when he was growing up; a Dad who was always there to love and guide him.

Happy 30 th birthday, "V" ! You have always made us happy and proud!