What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Sorry, I must be dumb tonight. I'm not sure if I follow.
Alma... den.
I know it's a wine maker. Not particularly good.
What do you mean?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Sorry, I must be dumb tonight. I'm not sure if I follow.
Alma... den.
I know it's a wine maker. Not particularly good.
What do you mean?

Ha, I didn't even notice the name, hilarious.

I just mean buy cheap plonk instead of $50 a pop bottle of wine and spend the difference on DVDs.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Ha, I didn't even notice the name, hilarious.

I just mean buy cheap plonk instead of $50 a pop bottle of wine and spend the difference on DVDs.

Hm... no can do.
I've just had a bottle of Occultum Lapidem, a Côtes du Roussillon Villages rated 94 by Robert Parker, with a ravioli stuffed with funghi porcini, pesto sauce. Toasted French bread with foie gras entier as appetizer.
Wine and gourmet food *are* my third passion after my family (lovely CountessAlmaviva and kids) and opera.
So part of the budget must be diverted to food and wine.

I've been following a ferocious diet for three weeks. Have lost 15 pounds. Today I decided to give myself a break, and got this gorgeous 94-rated wine and the porcini ravioli. Yummy. Loved it.

I've been going to the gym 6 days a week. This is an expensive gym.

And my son is supposed to start Law School, next.

Arghhh! I need more money! There isn't much left for DVDs!!!

[Amfortas]

I think we have a solution here:

Sorry, I must be dumb tonight. I'm not sure if I follow.

I just mean buy cheap plonk instead of $50 a pop bottle of wine and spend the difference on DVDs.

Oh, and here I took the message to be much simpler: "Just GET HER DRUNK, MAN, and she'll do whatever you want!"

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Oh, and here I took the message to be much simpler: "Just GET HER DRUNK, MAN, and she'll do whatever you want!"

CountessAlmaviva, getting drunk with cheap plonk? Never! Champagne Roederer Cristal, maybe. It actually has happened. True story.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

NOW we come to the bottom of the story. It's the countess swigging champagne who is responsible for the dearth of new DVDs in Alma's UWP.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

OK, today I went into Amazon.com and found 5 Rossini operas, most on blu-ray, and one Pergolesi that I didn't have; all of them expensive (above $30 each). Impulsively I clicked on all six. Then when I went to the checkout screen the bill was almost $200. I got some guilty pangs and deleted four of them, kept one Rossini (the madhouse one - you've finally convinced me) and the Pergolesi.

So I was all proud of what I did. A couple of hours later I learned that CountessAlmaviva who owns an iPad and a netbook that in my opinion are perfectly fine for her Internet needs, went berserk and impulsively bought an expensive Mac laptop!

I told her, I should have bought all six!

And there was no champagne drinking today. Arghh!!!

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Thank goodness for Spotify. I listened to Massimo Giordano's new CD there and I'm glad I didn't buy it. The singing is kind of flabby and lacking in colour, I didn't hear one aria that made me go wow, didn't he make a great job of that. Should be called amore con un poco di whingeing.



This was much better. You can't go wrong with Britten conducting Britten.



I am bewildered by this production of Manon Lescaut from La Monnaie. It's more like a cross between Lulu and Anna Nicole. I have no idea what is going on, why we are spending so much time in a train station, or who the dude with the half-naked lady on a lead is. I'll only keep watching because I like Eva-Maria Westbroek and Brandon Jovavovich.



On second watching of this DVD of Pique Dame, I am less dazzled by the loveliness of Misha Dydik and noticed a distinct lack of chemistry between him and his Lisa, Emily Magee. And Ludovic Tézier as Yeletsky does his usual singing haddock act. I suppose that helps make Lisa's rejection of him a little more understandable. On the plus side Ewa Podleś is absolutely magisterial as the old countess. It's worth getting this just for her.

[tyroneslothrop]

This was much better. You can't go wrong with Britten conducting Britten.

So was watching this DVD your consolation prize for not going to the UK and seeing this opera in person with Sospiro?

[Amfortas]

A couple of hours later I learned that CountessAlmaviva who owns an iPad and a netbook that in my opinion are perfectly fine for her Interned needs, went berserk and impulsively bought an expensive Mac laptop!

Don't be too upset at her. Yesterday, purely on impulse, I bought this*:



Granted, it was an older, second-hand Firebird, and I got a good price for it. Still, though, I really didn't need it! But . . . it was there. And it was red. And it was *so* pretty!

Besides, it goes along with my other recent purchases--the 60" HD TV, Blu-ray player, and surround sound system--as I enter my third mid-life crisis (which, by the way, I'm enjoying much more than the other two).

(*Item shown in photo is not the actual purchased vehicle)

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

(*Item shown in photo is not the actual purchased vehicle)

The item actually purchased was this Matchbox:

[Amfortas]

The item actually purchased was this Matchbox:

I'm starting to wish it was. I pick up the car tomorrow, and am already getting cold feet about the purchase.

But you're only young and stupid once. It's just that, in my case, it's lasted into my fifties!

[tyroneslothrop]

Don't be too upset at her. Yesterday, purely on impulse, I bought this*:



Granted, it was an older, second-hand Firebird, and I got a good price for it. Still, though, I really didn't need it! But . . . it was there. And it was red. And it was *so* pretty!

Besides, it goes along with my other recent purchases--the 60" HD TV, Blu-ray player, and surround sound system--as I enter my third mid-life crisis (which, by the way, I'm enjoying much more than the other two).

(*Item shown in photo is not the actual purchased vehicle)

Very nice. Macbooks, Firebirds, A/V systems. All of these things are cheap for mid-life crises. For my first mid-life crisis, I acquired myself a third wife. Now *THAT* has been expensive! I fear what I will acquire if I had 2nd and 3rd mid-life crises!

[Amfortas]

Very nice. Macbooks, Firebirds, A/V systems. All of these things are cheap for mid-life crises. For my first mid-life crisis, I acquired myself a third wife. Now *THAT* has been expensive! I fear what I will acquire if I had 2nd and 3rd mid-life crises!

Well, my first two mid-life crises *did* involve women.

That's why I'm enjoying this third one so much more!

[Amfortas]

Yesterday, purely on impulse, I bought this:



. . . an older, second-hand Firebird . . .

By the way, I've named it Stravinsky.