Sunday afternoon with Armide

Today I went to see Lully's Armide at Glimmerglass Opera with painter and singer (Aida chorus) Yolanda Sharpe and was better pleased overall than I was the last time around, when I was pleased in part only. It was interesting to see a Baroque French opera with a good deal of dancing (although the elderly lady sitting next to me slipped sideways into sleep during the dancing, she dozed gently and did not snore.) The semi-transparent set designs inspired by Persian illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy were lovely, and the scattered lights that showed through at times pleasantly echoed the bits of crystal sewn onto the ladies' bright jewel-color skirts. Some voices were better than others, and some minor things felt distracting--what did the bit of gender-bending with some of the over-effete poses of the men versus the mannish hair (striking compared to the pretty bunheads of her ladies) of Armide add, and why? The Quinault libretto (story drawn from Tasso) was fanciful enough that the idea of it being the Seelie Court and the Fairie Queen kept tumbling through my head. Certainly the dancing courtiers appeared close kin to the trooping fairies with their aristocratic ways and fine processions. Or perhaps, given the invocation of demons, it might be the Queen of the Unseelie Court. She would knock down her world when angered! And of course pop it up again when she felt the desire for another go-round with the handsome Renault. Press images here.

Afterward we went to the Pavilion and heard a great number of songs and set pieces, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I am wishing that they would make more use of Yolanda some year; she has a rich voice and much training, though she is tethered to SUNY-Oneonta, where she is an art professor. It would be a great thing for Cooperstown and Oneonta audiences, as she is so well-known and active in both places, especially after her recent recital to benefit the food bank.