What's a Girl to Wear to the Opera?

So what's a girl to wear to see the Minnesota Opera's fabulous production of Puccini's La Boheme (a story of colorful, bohemian artists living in 19th century Paris) this weekend?
Well, she could opt for the little black dress. Safe. Tried and true.
B-B-B-booooring. Or ...




... she could take a cue from the sumptuous "Wanderers" editorial in this month's issue of Vogue magazine, and choose the rich, mish mash of tribal colors and geometric patterns that an urban bohemian would wear. After all, it was the wanderlusting free spirits, Romani (gypsy) people, and travelers of the Silk Road who inspired the Paris Bohemian movement that La Boheme came out of.

Photographed by Arthur Elgort, styled by the incredible Tonne Goodman!




When we attended the "Bohemian Lifestyle for Rent" event that MN Opera hosted last week at the Loring Pasta Bar's "Red Room," my date Miss R and I went for texture (fur, wood beads, lace) and patterns (flowers, paisley, ikat!!) We like clashing prints and lots of layering.





the divine Miss R and Tosh







The free Bohemian Lifestyle for Rent event took place in the Red Room at the top of the Loring Pasta Bar at dusk- very much like the Boheme garret in Paris! There were tall taper candles, glowing paintings, vin, artichoke dip!!








The opera's stars, Jennifer Black (Mimi) and Adam Diegel (Rodolpho) treated us to some beautiful preview arias (including "O Soave fanciulla", I think) and engaged their guests in a friendly question and answer time. The MN Opera really does a wonderful job of trying to involve and educate the community in the magical world of opera. They even gave away a pair of free tickets!


Adam Diegel and Jennifer Black

There's a Trysts Philharmonique Calendar of events on this blog's sidebar, where you can find out about other events like this one and all the local concerts. Click the pic below and check it regularly.




Also, check out this video, and stay tuned for more opera, fashion and Boheme Madness!

Embrace the Boheme Life!

Boheme madness has begun!





The long-anticipated return of Giacomo Puccini's lush, romantic masterpiece to the MN Opera, happens this Friday, March 6th. And to kick off Bohemian season, the Opera is hosting some great celebrations and educational opportunities, like Bohemian Lifestyle for Rent TONIGHT (5:30-7 pm) at the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown, Minneapolis. IT IS FREE! And I am going!
click the pic below for more details



check out the MN Opera's promo video

La Boheme, which is set in early 1800s Paris, among a group of struggling artists and penniless Bohemians, is all about beauty, romance, and youthful idealism. It is the beloved story that inspired the Broadway musical Rent, and is quite possibly the most popular opera of all time. It's a great first opera to see, if you have not been initiated into the wonderful world of opera. And certainly its' themes of struggle and beauty in times of despair, resonate with the state of things today.

I don't know if there are any tickets still available for La Boheme. But at Bohemian Lifestyle for Rent tonight, you'll have a chance to hear excerpts sung by the Mimi and Rudolpho leads, and enter to win free tickets! I've already snatched up mine, and will be posting plenty more updates, tributes, and fun in the next couple weeks to celebrate everything Boheme!



an early performance of La Boheme

Happy 201 Years, Mendelssohn!

Happy Birthday to German Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn, born 1809 in Hamburg.

"Jakob Ludwig Felix" came from a family of intellectuals. His grandfather was the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, whose ideas are credited with kick-starting the "Haskalah" [Jewish Enlightenment] renaissance of European Jewish thought. Felix studied in Paris as a child, and like Mozart, was considered a child prodigy.
Anti-Semitic German composer Richard Wagner damned Mendelssohn's work, which incited a Nazi banishment of all Mendelssohn's work during the regime. The effects of that racist denigration linger today.





Enjoy Mendelssohn's Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) Overture. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music!

Russian Winter playlist

If you don't plan to hit up the Art Sled Rally this Saturday at Powderhorn Park, you might consider getting down with Devereux instead. The Minnesota Opera kicks off Donizetti's Roberto Devereux- a tale of lusty monarchy, trysts with Duchesses and Earls, treason and vengeance! (that's my friend Ben Johnson kissing the neck of the queen)


It's been a month jam-packed with fabulous performances from the MN Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Hopefully some of you got to make it out to one of the SPCO's Stravinsky Festival shows. My empty pockets and busy schedule kept me from going, so I consoled myself by compiling the Russian Winter playlist below. I did however, purchase tickets to MN Opera's much anticipated La Boheme in March, after months of scrimping and saving! In a future blog post, I'll explore the irony of starving-artist bohemes like myself being unable to afford the $100 tickets it takes to see an opera about starving-artist bohemes ;)





AND NOW... THE RUSSIAN WINTER PLAYLIST

There’s a kind of solidarity between the inhabitants of two frozen tundra lands. I think that’s why Minnesota winter seems the perfect season for fiery, steely-souled Russian music. Just like how in high school I had certain albums that acted as soundtracks for the different seasons- U2’s Unforgettable Fire for November, Bjork’s Vespertine in February- this Russian Winter playlist has been my fur hat- clad, Cossack-style soundtrack for the subzero months.

On the playlist, are 2 of my very favorite composers- Igor Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. I grew up dancing the ballets of these Russian masters. Stravinsky’s eery Petrushka, the story of a love triangle between a creepy clown, rag doll, and Moor doll; his mysterious, exotic Firebird; his raw, tribal Rite of Spring. Then there’s the lesser known Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov whose sultry Scheherazade tells of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. And of course I danced the classic Tchaikovskys- Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Nutcracker. I’ve also included works by the famous “Five” or Mighty Handful: the Romantic-era composers Borodin, Cui, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov, whose epic, nationalist works have become anthems of Russia.


portraits of the composers Glinka (top) and Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov (below) by Russian painter Ilya Repin.



You can listen/watch the playlist via Youtube videos by clicking the link below. If you hit “play all” it will auto play the whole thing. You can also listen to my past playlists on the Trysts Philharmonique Youtube channel. Or you can hear excerpts on this page using the player at the top of the sidebar, and enjoy some pictures of Russian stuff...

Mikhail Glinka - “Ivan Susanin”
Igor Stravinsky – “Petrushka”
Modest Mussorgsky – “The Great Gates of Kiev”
Igor Stravinsky – “Firebird”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – “The Snow Maiden”
Sergei Prokofiev – “Scythian Suite”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – “Russian Dances” (from Swan Lake)
Mily Balakirev – “Tamaras”
Sergei Rachmaninoff – “Isle of the Dead”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – “Song of India” (from Sadko)



painting by Minneapolis' own Luke Hillestad-a reference to Repin's Ivan the Terrible

the Mariinsky Theatermore Repin paintings


Russian fashion Galliano style, Chanel's matrioshka doll purse and pendant, Stravinsky, and faberge eggs

painting of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna by Ivan Makarov / John Galliano fashion inspired by the Snow Maiden opera by Rimsky-Korsakov




In my years of classical ballet training in the Russian Vaganova style, I was fortunate to be taught by several great Russian instructors, Gabriela Komleva, Alla Sizova, Luba Gulyaeva, Kaleria Fedicheva- principal dancers with the Kirov and Bolshoi ballets- whose fierce, perfectionistic coaching struck the fear of god into my arabesques and taught me the value of striving and suffering for one’s craft. I will also always remember the great Russian maestros Ilya and Tatiana, who accompanied our dancing with beautiful piano.

my Russian ballet teachers...
I found this incredible old video of my teacher Gabriela Komleva...

CLICK PICTURE




... and finally, some post-Soviet photography by Donald Weber...