Turandot and the Giant Walking Emo

Yesterday I went to 'Opera in the Domain' with my parents. It was a pretty good night. We got there at 5 and there was still plenty of space (not like Symphony in the Domain). It was quite cold though... there was a lot of wind. We were all hungry so we had our dinner. Then we wanted snacks but we didn't bring any. So I walked to the 7/11 near Wynyard and bought some expensive chips. It was cool because I saw this giant walking emo puppet walking. There were these huge ropes and one man working an arm while another person was working a leg and a forklift truck moving the emo puppet forward etc. There was a whole japanese film crew... so if you next see a giant emo puppet in a japanese movie... it was in Martin Place... and I was there!!!
The opera they were showing was Turandot by Puccini... my first ever live opera. It's the story of the very beautiful Princess Turandot who kills those who love her. [fummy moment! The people behind us were saying "but she's not even beautiful! Why would he go after her?] She sets them riddles and if they can't get it... they get their heads chopped off. Along comes this clever guy Calaf... and when he first sees her he falls in love and summons her to give him the riddles. At the other end of the story, Liu has fallen in love with Calaf and doesn't want him to risk his life for Turandot (because death seemed to be a certainty). But Calaf gets all the riddles right... but now Turandot doesn't really want to marry this stranger. So... Calaf sets her a challenge... if she can guess his name by morning... she can kill him. You may not have heard of Turandot but it's the opera where Nessum Dorma comes from (the song that Australian Idol Damien Leith sang... badly). The music in it is very very good! The orchestra was amazing! Afterwards me and mum were saying that it was slightly cruel to drag dad along to this cultured soap-opera. [funny moment! The people behind us were saying "now I know that operas usually have really out-there plots, but this one... really takes the cake!"] Dad was funny and said "It was very sad when that girl died... it was very... emotional... it almost brought a tear to my eye." Hahaha!!! He was being sarcastic... although I think he enjoyed opera in the domain more than he would have enjoyed symphony because he could read the surtitles and follow along (because he's hearing impaired).

PHOTO TIME:

Dad and Mum enjoy the evening



The giant walking emo.



Check out that beautiful sky


the beautiful sky looking not so beautiful

From Car-O-Line

riddle time care of Turandot:
1. what is born each night and dies each dawn?
2. what flickers red and warm like a flame, yet is not fire?
3. what is like ice but burns?