{"id":42322,"date":"2019-12-18T14:40:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T19:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=42322"},"modified":"2019-12-18T14:40:39","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T19:40:39","slug":"a-1911-grand-opera-enters-trumps-impeachment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=42322","title":{"rendered":"A 1911 grand opera enters Trump’s impeachment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night I was at the Metropolitan Opera for a performance of Der Rosenkavalier<\/em>, a Richard Strauss opera I’ll go to whenever it’s performed. That’s how much I love it.<\/p>\n

Rosenkavalier<\/em> is a serious romcom set in aristocratic Vienna of the 1700s. As the raucous Act Three moves toward its conclusion and the crowded stage clears, the four leading characters remain: Baron Ochs, the Marschallin (a princess), Octavian and Sophie.<\/p>\n

Baron Ochs, whose gross behavior toward women bears a distinct resemblance to someone we all know, now slowly pulls together the elements of a great trick played upon him.<\/p>\n

As he does, he grasps a truth the married Marschallin needs to keep secret — she has been having a passionate affair with Octavian, a much younger man.<\/p>\n

He looks back and forth between Octavian and the Marschallin and Octavian and the Marschallin and mumbles, “Damn it all! I can’t get over it! The Field Marshal — Octavian — Mariandel — the Marschallin — Octavian.”<\/p>\n

Ah ha! He’s figured it out and now is calculating what he can do with this damaging information.<\/p>\n

Hold that in your mind for a second, while I explain that the Met provides each of us opera lovers a small discrete computer screen in front of our seats, giving us the English translation of opera librettos, like Rosenkavalier,<\/em> not written in English. Thus, we all know precisely what each character is singing as he sings it.<\/p>\n

And this is what Baron Ochs now sings and what we all read:<\/p>\n

“I still do not know what I should think of this whole quid pro quo<\/em>!”<\/p>\n

At which the entire Met audience, more than 3000 strong, burst into sustained laughter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night I was at the Metropolitan Opera for a performance of Der Rosenkavalier, a Richard Strauss opera I’ll go to whenever it’s performed. That’s how much I love it. Rosenkavalier is a serious romcom set in aristocratic Vienna of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4718,1175,2902],"tags":[5136,1397,215,5139,5137],"class_list":["post-42322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-impeachment","category-the-facts-of-life","category-trump-stuff","tag-der-rosenkavalier","tag-impeachment","tag-metropolitan-opera","tag-quid-pro-quo","tag-richard-strauss"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t