Opera: Semele

Last night, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group (London Baroque Music Lovers were also going, but I had to pick one - mind you, the same guy was organising) for the opening night of Handel's opera Semele, in the Royal Opera House. And of course, I would start seeing discount codes after I booked.. Eating at Cote Covent Garden beforehand.

I left in time, arrived in Cote about five minutes late. Not a problem, I was eating early for an early opera start, and the place was almost empty. And oh, such delicious air conditioning! Had my usual two courses, headed straight to the opera house. Where I arrived at about exactly the time arranged on the Meetup page - and chatted with one of the others, there being no-one else there. Headed up, met my sometime companion, who was in the row behind, up in the Gods:

It's a long enough opera - about three hours, plus a 25-minute interval after the first 90 minutes or so. Well, Baroque opera is never known for its brevity.. what made things worse for me were the two rotund ladies on either side of me, who squished uncomfortably into me for the whole thing. The story is simple enough (for once) - Semele is a mortal mistress of Jupiter (or Jove), his wife Juno is jealous and, in disguise, persuades Semele to ask him to show her his divine countenance. She doesn't realise that the reason he's so reluctant to do so is because she'll be essentially burnt to a crisp if that happens. Before the opera ends, and she dies, she has given birth to Bacchus - whose birth everyone is thrilled about. Except, of course, Juno.. But that's another story.

As I say, the seating arrangement rather impinged on my enjoyment - also, the air conditioning was perhaps a bit inadequate on what was another sweltering day. When I met the group - beforehand, and again at the interval, where we were joined by the organiser and I had some very welcome ice cream - mention was made of how the subsequent performances start later; perhaps they're deciding what to cut? Still, it is an enjoyable piece - although I will admit to being disappointed at the end. Here I was, expecting some sort of pyrotechnics to represent her dissolving into ash before the brilliant face of a god - nope, he's over the side in a suit, she climbs into a furnace (never explained why she would think to do that), the door closes, and a pile of ash takes her place (spoiler). Yawn. They could have made more of an effort with that.. Anyway, runs to the 18th..

Afterwards, my companion - who had intended to join me beforehand but hadn't realised it was starting so early, and only just made the opera in time - wanted to eat, so we meandered for a bit - until we came to Gaucho, just around the corner from the opera house, and happily open and not busy. We were seated quickly.

I love their steak, but wasn't hungry enough - ordered a chicken milanese, while she had the aubergine milanese, and we both had mushrooms as a side. They have an extensive wine list - with the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc retailing for £90 (!), I looked again, and found a vinho verde. Which was lovely and refreshing. She finished her meal, but unfortunately my chicken was tough, and the mushrooms too rich, and I couldn't finish them. They close at 11pm, and about a quarter of an hour before that, were good enough to come and ask for last orders - and it was lovely not to be thrown out; it was after 11 when we left. Again, it ran too late to blog last night.

Tonight, thinking film again - and what's looking good at the top of the list is Sudan, Remember Us, a documentary about the popular uprising in Sudan following the overthrow of a dictatorship, and the subsequent violent military crackdown. It'll be great to get a view of a country I don't know much about, and am unlikely to visit.. showing, of course, in the Curzon Bloomsbury, the home of documentaries.

Tomorrow, back with the much-neglected London Literary Walks - this one is called The Modernist Walk, and we're meeting in The Garden Gate, Hampstead. You can eat there, but I couldn't book for just one person, so will have to take pot luck. Hopefully it'll be cooler..

On Thursday, film again - documentary again - Curzon Bloomsbury again! This time for The Salt of the Earth, about the photographer Sebastiao Salgado, who died in May. Co-written and co-directed by Wim Wenders, it's part of the country-wide Kino Dreams retrospective of his work.

And on Friday - which is, of course, US Independence Day - I'm heading to TunedIn London for the first time in ages, courtesy of The World Music Meetup (whom I've signed up with) and the London European Club, not to mention Curiosity - London Arts, Culture & Walks, for a concert called An American Melt, happening in St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe.