We went to two competitions this past weekend and had a wonderful time at each, even though the competitors in one had heavenly voices, and the competitors in the other were sometimes scrambling on their bellies in the dirt.
On Saturday, we attended the Rocky Mountain Regional Finals of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, or, as Jim's brother-in-law referred to it, "American Idol Goes to the Opera." For two hours, we sat in the third row of Denver's exquisite opera house and listened to eight young classically trained singers vie for a chance to go to New York to "compete for $15,000 cash prizes and the chance to perform in the Grand Finals Concert on the nation's most prestigious opera stage . . . Over 1,500 singers between the ages of 20 and 30 will participate in the National Council Auditions, the oldest and most wide-ranging singing competition in the country."
Much as I love our new home state, Culture-With-a-Capitol-C sometimes feels lacking here. Saturday's performances filled a little of the artistic vacuum I've experienced since leaving Europe.
Sunday's competition, on the other hand, was pure Colorado: the final sheep herding trials of the 2010 National Western Stock Show. Last year, we saw the novice dogs compete, which involved a lot of automatic DQs for biting sheep that refused to be herded. (One young dog actually slunk out of the ring with a mouthful of fleece.) This year's dogs were more experienced, but some of them still nipped their charges or crawled on their bellies when they were supposed to be motionless or couldn't accomplish all the required tasks under the five-minute time limit. The winner, Lad, belonged to an elderly gentleman who worked in perfect harmony with his dog, communicating only with whistles. (Shades of "Babe") Laddie put those sheep through their paces in a mere 2 minutes, 10 seconds. Bravo!
2 comments:
Last Sunday night our local PBS station showed the 2009 finals at the Met last year. Wonderful voices, indeed. . I was struck by the kindness and support the singers received from the personnel at the Met. If you have a chance to see it, do. Not as good as actually being there but quite gripping all the same
That documentary, which was shown on our PBS channel last week, was what inspired us to go to the Regional Finals. I, too, was struck by the kindness the Met staff showed the young singers.
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