…of a lovely lady…..
….a handsome painter..
….a despicable policeman…..
Love and loss, war and intrigue, jealousy and betrayal…torture……control…..all laid out in one 3 act Italian opera.
Tosca……by Puccini…….
I spent my last night in Budapest with Floria (Tosca), Mario (Caravadossi) and Scarpia, the main characters in this historical adventure. It’s a complicated story with lots of twists and turns….and, it doesn’t end well….for……well……anyone…. I was on the edge of my seat all the way up to the end.
Whew!
I don’t really know that much about opera. But, I have a goal this year of learning more. As I was researching things to do in Budapest, opera came to the top of the list more than once. It was, in part, because of the beautiful opera house and its stellar acoustics and in part due to the quality of the performers. What a great opportunity to get a small education and a glimpse of the opera house in the meantime. Sold! I purchased a ticket online before I left home and anticipated my fun evening at the opera.
On the day that I took the walking tour, the guide wondered what I would be doing while in Budapest and I told her about the opera. I was so excited to see the opera house and see such a renowned opera. She was silent as she thought for a few minutes and then said,
“I hate to tell you this, but the opera house is under renovation. It isn’t open now and won’t be until at least 2020. You will not be seeing Tosca there. Check your ticket, but I think it will be performed at the Erkel Theater. It’s where the locals go for musical performances and to see the ballet. And, by the way, if you are going to the Erkel, you should probably take a taxi.”
Oh. How disappointing. How did I miss this important fact when I was purchasing my ticket?
I was so disappointed that I almost didn’t go. But, then, I thought about it a bit. I realized it would be a great way to rub elbows with the locals….and, I would still get an education on the opera.
I did not follow the advice of the tour guide about the taxi, though. Instead, I decided that I would try to take public transportation for as much as I could and walk the rest of the way. The friendly young woman at the hotel desk said it would be easy. She mapped it out for me. I would take the Metro just one stop and then get on the tram to a stop that was just a few blocks from the theater.
I started out.
The Metro part went just fine. I had tested this out several times during my trip. It was really easy to use. I even got on the right tram. Where I went wrong was in getting off of the tram at the right stop. I had a hard time reading the signs at the tram stops. So, I went way too far and got off, thinking that I was in the right place. I started walking. Then, it started to rain. Of course, I didn’t have my umbrella. But, my coat had a hood, so I put that up and kept going. Soon, I realized that I was going the wrong way and stopped at a small bar to ask for directions. The barkeep looked at my map and said that I needed to get back on the tram and go back the way I came. So, I did. Suffice to say that I went up and down the route several times before I finally asked a young student on the tram to help me.
After I told him my tale of woe, he looked at me and said, “I think you should just get off the tram and walk. It would be easier.”
He was right. I made it with about 1 minute to spare. By this time, my hair was heading in about as many directions as I had taken on the tram. But, there was no time to check it. Just like the day at the baths, I did the best I could to paste it down. I checked my coat and headed into the theater to my seat. The production started almost as soon as I sat down.
It was a great experience and the performers were quite good. I especially liked the person who played Mario. His voice and demeanor were strong, and I could feel the emotions that his character went through as the plot thickened.
He was also cute. That was nice.
Scarpia, the despicable secret service agent was true to his character in his zest for power not only politically, but as he sought to win control over Tosca.
Tosca was fantastic as she moved through love, jealousy, anger and fear, and then transformed into a strong-willed murderer, killing Scarpia in order to save herself and her beloved Mario. Sadly, Tosca’s efforts to save Mario were in vain. Scarpia had tricked her into thinking she was taking an action that would save him. Mario was killed by execution in the last act. Tosca, recognizing her unknowing participation in the whole thing, killed herself as she grieved her lover.
I was exhausted.
Really.
I needed to take a nap.
But, there were a couple of things about the performance as I thought about it that revived me and made me chuckle.
The casting of this production was interesting in that the woman who played Tosca was about 20 years older than the performer who played Mario. I support age-gapped relationships. I had one myself. However, in this circumstance it seemed a bit extreme. I found it comical as I watched the love scenes and felt the urgency of the couple to marry. I wondered how they would have children. That was not part of the plot. So, it never came up. But, it did come up in my mind more than once. In the end, I relinquished that thought to fantasy. I had to in order to stay focused on the real plot.
Also, at the end of each act, the performers came out and did a full curtain call. I have never seen this before. I wondered each time if I had gotten the number of acts wrong. I even checked it out with a British woman I met at the bar in between acts. We had quite a discussion about it. She had never seen that either. But, no. It was apparently just the way they do it at the Erkel Theater. Every time I went back to my seat after the break, the opera commenced as expected.
At the end of the performance, I decided that I could try the public transportation again. Really. What was I thinking?! It was now dark and the streets were, at best, dimly lit. So, as you might guess, I got lost. Again.
I wandered around for about 15 minutes. As I was walking, I thought about Scarpia, the despicable secret policeman. Maybe someone like him would leap out of the shadows and try to abduct me. It wouldn’t be hard to do here in the land of darkness. So, I looked around and spied a Radisson Hotel on the corner. The concierge there kindly ordered me a taxi so I could get back to my hotel unscathed.
Honestly, I will need to do another trip soon so that I can redeem myself on the public transportation. This is usually one of my best things. But, I guess the distraction of the story of the opera disrupted my usual linear and logical thought process, which is usually a great match for a public transportation situation. Or, I could have been distracted by my memory of Mario.
He was cute………
…..I’m about 20 years older than him……it could work out…….
Hmmmm………
Travel With Betsy 
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