Figaro Gets Married

Allen, Gerry. & Marilyn at the Opera House

Last night we attended an opera at the Hungarian State Opera House.  It was The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.  I'm not familiar with this opera even though it is a classic.

I'm not sure which was grander: the opera itself or the opera house in which it was held.  The Opera House was built in 1875-84 and is a "neo-renaissance pile" as one of our guidebooks calls it.  It is beautiful and ornate.

We sat in a box at the rear of the orchestra--the first time I've even sat in one of those boxes you see.  It did strike me that in our box in front of us was a German couple and in front of them a Chinese couple.  Together we sat watching an Italian opera set in Spain written by an Austrian with Hungarian supertitles.  Quite the international affair.

The stage at the Opera House

Chandelier

The production was lavish, with interesting scenery design and dripping costumes.  We did purchase an English synopsis of the opera which helped us to know what was going on up on the stage.  But the plot is sort of thin, as many opera plots are, that it didn't take much to figure it all out.  Everyone happy at the end; just as a good comic opera should be.

Boxes at the Opera House

Following the opera, as if we hadn't had enough sumptuousness to last us, we stopped for a late night bite at the New York Palace Café again.  This time I had hot white chocolate to drink and a traditional 9 layer Hungarian cake called, if I remember correctly domos.  (There may be some accents or umlauts in there somewhere.)

I've only alluded to public transportation before but I would like to say that the public transportation system here in Budapest is fantastic.  You never wait more than a few minutes for a tram or subway train.  They come frequently and quickly.  And they're usually crowded, meaning that people do use the public transportation.  It's really wonderful to see and be a part of.  We each have a two-week pass for the transportation system which saves us buying tickets each time we ride it.  It's really quite wonderful.