March 24, 2026 – Walt Disney Concert Hall
This was another LA Phil Friends and Family sale ticket, so $25 for a good front orchestra seat. I figured even if the show was bad, it’s still fun to sit in the fancy seats. I had been telling all my friends I was going to see a “weird opera” and that’s pretty much what it was. This was the US premiere of the piece. I later looked it up on YouTube and found a clip from the world premiere, which was actually staged. This one was not.
The drive to WDCH was typical. The show started at 8:00, which allowed me time to wait for traffic to peak and start to ebb before getting on the road. Maps still had me driving down Jefferson rather than attempting the 10. I eventually got on the 10 at Arlington and made it with plenty of time to spare. As usual, I got off the 110 at 4th and took Lower Grand to the parking entrance across from Colburn parking (which is how I now put it in Maps for directions – Colburn parking) and went right to my usual parking spot. I had time to use the restroom before heading to my seat. I was disappointed to see the giant lucite bin full of cough drops wasn’t there by the elevator, but c’est la vie.
I was in Row EE which is the last row in front of the aisle and honestly, the perfect seat. It’s far enough away and high enough up that you don’t feel like you’re looking up at the stage but still so very close. A woman came in, sat next to me and struck up a conversation. She has been sitting in her seat for 10 seasons and comes for chamber music and Green Umbrella. She knew all the people around us and informed me that they are mostly architects and that for some reason, architects are keen on the Green Umbrella series. I asked her what she does and she turned out to be a retired chef so I asked her what is her favorite dish to make. Risotto…and also lamb shanks with saffron. The seats on the other side of her were vacant and she said if the people (she called them by name) didn’t show, we should move into those seats. We waited for the doors to close and then we moved.
As I mentioned, this opera wasn’t staged. There were however typewriters on stage along with various other office items, like document stands and telephones. The conductor, Thomas Adès took the stage and led the musicians through the overture and then the singers took the stage. This opera is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Salome which has been previously done by Richard Strauss. The musicality in this version was much more modern. The singers were often singing the same notes as the orchestra, which was sort of weird and choppy. And then instead of the dance of the seven veils, Salome typed a letter. So there was a lot of “Type for me” “I will not type!” before she finally submitted. At one point during the show the phone rang and Salome answered it. And there was a section with a metronome where it was slow and then adjusted to be fast and then adjusted to be moderato. There were several times where the orchestra shouted out responses. It was also sung primarily in English with supertitles displayed on the walls overhead which I found myself reading even though I could completely understand what they were saying. It still takes me some time to get used to an opera being sung in English, so I started off a bit disconcerted.
A colleague who was also there that night and likes modern “classical” music absolutely loved it. So if you like this kind of music, you will likely enjoy this opera. I found it to be farcical and surreal – not bad, just weird. And also short. The run time was 65 minutes. I was home by 9:45. Would I see it again? Probably. Especially if I could get that seat for $25 again.