By Angela Rocco DeCarlo, copyright, 2008
Everyone should be in Chicago in the springtime…and that’s right now.
Baseball fans know the city will be on high excitement as the Chicago Cubs clinched their National League Division and are in the running for the World Series. The Cubs last won a World Series in 1908, so they are overdue. Meanwhile, on the city’s South Side, the Chicago White Sox, American League, are doing well and, as of this writing, may be in the playoffs.
Notorious for its perfidious climate, Chicago is perverse enough to offer up its best springtime weather in the fall. October is, without a doubt, the most felicitous time to visit this world-class city to enjoy its many delights. In the fall the crowds are gone and the weather is usually delightful.
A compact convenient city, visitors can catch the Impressionist paintings (the largest collection outside Paris, but in a much better venue) at the Art Institute of Chicago, on Michigan Avenue. Here’s where you’ll find some of the most iconic paintings in the art world: such as Claude Monet’s “Haystacks;” GeorgeSeurat’s “A Sunday on La Grand Jatte;” Grant Wood’s 1930s painting of a farmer and his daughter (not his wife) in “American Gothic.” Many people have seen pop art imitations o fEdward Hopper’s evocative painting “Nighthawks.” The imitation’s images include actors Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. The original does not.
Not to be missed are the 68 exquisite miniature Thorne Rooms, of European and American room interiors from the 13th century through the 1930s. The rooms were created between 1932 and 1940, by talented artists to the specifications of Chicago’s Mrs. James Ward Thorne. Also, in the lower level with the Thorne Rooms, are many children’sattractions.
The new Millennium Park, next to the Art Institute, offers unique fountains, delightful open green spaces, a band shell, sculpture, gardens and cafes. It’s a must-see park, amid one of the world’s most lovely lakefronts. Several miles north of this park is Navy Pier, a perfect playground for families with children who relish giant ferris wheels and lavish merry-go-rounds. Plenty of restaurants here, too.
Outside the Art Institute, on Michigan Avenue, you can jump on a trolley or city bus for a short run south to the Field Museum of National History. Kids love meeting Sue, the 67-million-year old T-Rex. Sue is not a plastic or plaster cast or collection of bones from various sources. Sue is intact and real. You can walk around the 13 feet tall, 42 feet long creature. Named in honor of Sue Henrickson, the person who first saw the fossils, in the summer of 1990, in the hills of South Dakota. Sue, the t-rex, has resided at the Field Museum since May 17, 2000, and is the largest, best preserved and most complete tyrannosaurus rex fossil yet discovered. Of course, the Field’s extensive exhibits also offer a scientific record of the Earth’s climatic history, demonstrating the various natural ice and warm eras in Earth’s long life.
The magnificently ingenious Museum of Science and Industry is a short ride south of the Field Museum. This is the place where you can go down into a real coal mine or explore the interior of a WWII German submarine. This is a museum on a grand scale to inspire and delight the curious of mind.
First-time visitors are often shocked to realize that Chicago is among the most beautiful cities in the world. The city, perched on the shore of Lake Michigan, with a front yard spanning hundreds of acres of public parks, is best viewed from the water, looking back at the parks and the iconic towering sawtooth skyline – the skyscraper was born in Chicago. A boat tour will highlight the history of the city shown through various styles of architecture.
The Wendella Boat tours, longtime guides of the city’s waterways, provide tours through December. These include Wine Tasting Architectural tours, Lake tours and Chicago River Architecture tours. The Lake tours begin in the Chicago River and pass through the river locks, (sort of a mini Panama Canal experience) which were installed when the river’s flow was reversed to preserve the purity of Lake Michigan water, which is the city’s source of drinking water.
To secure the full flavor of this surprisingly sparkling city there are four things visitors should do:
1) Visit one of the world-classmuseums;
2) Take in a river or lake cruise or Cubs game (if you can score a ticket);
3) Eat Chicago style pizza – Lou Malnati’s on Wells St. is yummo;
4) View the city from the observatory atop either the Hancock Building or the Sears Tower.
Luxury hotels such as The Drake on Michigan, the Ambassadors, the Palmer House, the Four Seasons and many more offer special packages throughout the year. Try having English tea in some of these hotels...a civilized meal. Those who prefer more casual accommodations will find a wide range of hotels to suit their needs and budget.
Chicago is known as an “eating and entertainment city” featuring many distinct ethnic neighborhoods with theaters and upscale restaurants, as well as down home establishments. It’s a walking city, so bring comfortable shoes, as you’ll want to walk at least one of the many Chicago River bascule bridges, (the city holds the record on the number of these opening bridges) especially the Michigan Avenue double-deck bridge. The Bridgehouse Museum, which highlights the city's history through the development of the river, s located on the Michigan Avenue bridge and is open until October 31. There, you can see the giant gears which lift and divide the 200-ton bridge to allow boats to pass beneath.
Of course, if you are traveling with a little girl, you’ll have to add a fifth must-do; a visit to the American Girl Place, off North Michigan Avenue. It is a world unto itself…all things girly, including a beauty salon for dolls, and tea room for dolls and their human firiends. Having a birthday party in the tea room is a much sought-after experience for young ladies. And pampering grandmamas. As an extra treat grandmama may surprise her special little girl with a look-alike American Girl. So cute.
Centrally located, Chicago offers excitement, culture (Lyric Opera of Chicago, etc) and a wide range of exciting opportunities for fun. This is a city second to none…it’s my kind of town, and will be yours, too.
For information on trip planning:
www.cityofchicago.org/tourism
1-877-244-2246
Visitors Information Centers:
Chicago Water Works, 163 East Pearson St.,@ Michigan Ave.
Chicago Cultural Center, (holds the largest Tiffany dome) 77 E. Randolph St.
From outside the United States please call 1-312-201-8847
End-
http://www.travelingdiva.com/day-tripping/chicago-in-the-%E2%80%9Cspring%E2%80%9D/
Credit: Angela Rocco DeCarlo, former Chicago journalist.
copyright, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tea for Two Times Two:
Museum fun with grandchildren
By Angela Rocco DeCarlo
It’s a fantasy of mine. Having an English tea with my grandchildren.
For a last hurrah before school began we spirited our two eldest grandchildren away to “do tea” and to see the newly restored galleries at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA. The restoration is gloriously beautiful. The creamy expansive entrance halls give way to rich forest green walls in the picture gallery, all situated in what once was the Henry and Arabelle Huntington family residence. The children loved the paintings, and the delight of rushing up the splendid double staircase, while the grandparents took the elevator.
It seemed like a good idea – culturally speaking – to treat Michelle, 10, and Andrew, 8, to English tea and a tour of the grand Huntington Library and picture galleries. I was half right. They loved the place…the beauty of the art, gardens, the buildings, and the Library’s giant Gutenberg Bible ( c.1455). They’ve been memorizing Bible verses for years at school, so they had more than a passing interest.
Alas, I misjudged one point - tea sandwiches for hockey-playing little boys are not so thrilling as they are for grandmamma. The beautiful buffet of sandwiches, fruits, cheeses, pastries, crackers, spreads, held no charm for Andrew. He’s too much of a gentleman to complain; he tried various things without success and ended up nibbling on strawberries. (cost: adults, $24.95; children ages 4-8, $12.49). Oh, well, you win some and lose some.
However, he and Michelle loved the self-guided audio tour of the art collections in the residence. It is amazing how diligently they listened and moved from painting to painting. I was disappointed to note that my favorite sculpture – three putti (baby boys) tipsy on wine – had been placed too far away, behind barriers in the dining room, for us to view it up close.
Growing up on Chicago’s far West border, contiguous to Oak Park, my little school, Key Clark Branch, – less than 100 students – proudly displayed copies of the Huntington’s iconic paintings, Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy and Lawrence’s Pinkie. We had no clue why they were there, but they are exceedingly pretty and we liked how they looked, all delicate and dreamy. I never imagined I’d one day see the real thing. So it’squite a delight to be able give our grandchildren the fun of seeing, up close, the lovely, original paintings. They took home their own little copies, along with a book and snuff box from the gift shop. I’ve come to believe, it is not possible to have a true cultural experience without making a purchase in the museum gift shop. One finds unique books, jewelry and other interesting objects. Our collection of books from museum gift shops, about a little girl named Katie, who visits museums with her grandmother, is a treasure.
The Huntington has become one of our favorites. It’s a bit like the Villa Borghese in Rome, with art galleries, antiquities and gorgeous gardens. However, the Huntington does not sport a zoo. Most interestingly, each museum reflects the artistic and intellectual taste of a private individual, rather than “only” museum curators. In Rome, early 1600s, it was Scipione Cardinal Borghese who assembled the antiquities; in San Marino (near Pasadena), the art was collected by Henry and Arabelle Huntington, he, the 19th century magnate.
It’s the perfect place to introduce children to the idea of what great wealth, combined with fine artistic taste, can accomplish. There are lots of reasons to take children to museums. Granted, they may not fully appreciate the purpose and mportance of preserving fine objects of art and literature. However, by repeated exposure to fine art, they begin to see how big the world is and how long humans have been engaged in artistic expressions. History, combined with beauty, is ultimately an easy and useful lesson for children of any age.
In any case, we apparently had picked the hottest day of the summer to visit this stellar venue. Nonetheless, we managed to hit the highlights in the library, the art gallery and the new Chinese garden, Garden o fFlowing Fragrance. We wish the weather had been cooler, as our plan to see the Children’s Garden, which would have been a better choice for us, was sidetracked.
The Huntington is a place to return to over and over. Founded in 1919 by railroad and real estate magnate Henry Edwards Huntington, the estate was opened to the public in 1928. One Art Gallery occupies the original Beaux Arts mansion built for Henry and Arabelle Huntington in 1911. The residence houses a world-famous collection of British paintings by Gainsborough, Lawrence, Constable, Turner, Romney and Van Dyck; a short walk across the Shakespeare Garden is the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery which displays American paintings and decorative arts, including works by Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Frederick Remington, Gilbert Stuart and Edward Hopper.
The entire place is a feast for eye and soul.
When we returned to my home, the children took out the painting supplies I keep for them, including smocks, and sat down to capture a quickly arranged still life of roses and fruit. They became lost in their work, much as they had when new to painting as toddlers. Their paintings hang in my kitchen “gallery” alongside their cousins’ works.
It was avery happy day. Beauty and learning does that for you.
TO GO:
The Huntington
1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 405-2100 www.huntington.org
HOURS:Mon.,Wed., Thurs., Fri., noon to 4:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun.,10:30 to 4:30 p.m.
ADMISSION: Adults $15, Seniors (age 65+), $12, Students( age 12-18, or full-time ID) $10,Youth, (age 5-11) $6. Parking lot is free.
Admission is FREE to all on the first Thursday of each month with advanced tickets.
The Rose Garden Tea Room – (626) 683-8131. Reservations encouraged. Closed Tues. $24.95 per person; $12.49 for children ages 4-8, plus tax & gratuity.
Tea and Tour packages are available. Call 626-2240 or email tours@huntington.org to schedule a morning “Tea & Tour” for your group.
####
Angela Rocco DeCarlo, copyright, 2008
By Angela Rocco DeCarlo
It’s a fantasy of mine. Having an English tea with my grandchildren.
For a last hurrah before school began we spirited our two eldest grandchildren away to “do tea” and to see the newly restored galleries at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA. The restoration is gloriously beautiful. The creamy expansive entrance halls give way to rich forest green walls in the picture gallery, all situated in what once was the Henry and Arabelle Huntington family residence. The children loved the paintings, and the delight of rushing up the splendid double staircase, while the grandparents took the elevator.
It seemed like a good idea – culturally speaking – to treat Michelle, 10, and Andrew, 8, to English tea and a tour of the grand Huntington Library and picture galleries. I was half right. They loved the place…the beauty of the art, gardens, the buildings, and the Library’s giant Gutenberg Bible ( c.1455). They’ve been memorizing Bible verses for years at school, so they had more than a passing interest.
Alas, I misjudged one point - tea sandwiches for hockey-playing little boys are not so thrilling as they are for grandmamma. The beautiful buffet of sandwiches, fruits, cheeses, pastries, crackers, spreads, held no charm for Andrew. He’s too much of a gentleman to complain; he tried various things without success and ended up nibbling on strawberries. (cost: adults, $24.95; children ages 4-8, $12.49). Oh, well, you win some and lose some.
However, he and Michelle loved the self-guided audio tour of the art collections in the residence. It is amazing how diligently they listened and moved from painting to painting. I was disappointed to note that my favorite sculpture – three putti (baby boys) tipsy on wine – had been placed too far away, behind barriers in the dining room, for us to view it up close.
Growing up on Chicago’s far West border, contiguous to Oak Park, my little school, Key Clark Branch, – less than 100 students – proudly displayed copies of the Huntington’s iconic paintings, Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy and Lawrence’s Pinkie. We had no clue why they were there, but they are exceedingly pretty and we liked how they looked, all delicate and dreamy. I never imagined I’d one day see the real thing. So it’squite a delight to be able give our grandchildren the fun of seeing, up close, the lovely, original paintings. They took home their own little copies, along with a book and snuff box from the gift shop. I’ve come to believe, it is not possible to have a true cultural experience without making a purchase in the museum gift shop. One finds unique books, jewelry and other interesting objects. Our collection of books from museum gift shops, about a little girl named Katie, who visits museums with her grandmother, is a treasure.
The Huntington has become one of our favorites. It’s a bit like the Villa Borghese in Rome, with art galleries, antiquities and gorgeous gardens. However, the Huntington does not sport a zoo. Most interestingly, each museum reflects the artistic and intellectual taste of a private individual, rather than “only” museum curators. In Rome, early 1600s, it was Scipione Cardinal Borghese who assembled the antiquities; in San Marino (near Pasadena), the art was collected by Henry and Arabelle Huntington, he, the 19th century magnate.
It’s the perfect place to introduce children to the idea of what great wealth, combined with fine artistic taste, can accomplish. There are lots of reasons to take children to museums. Granted, they may not fully appreciate the purpose and mportance of preserving fine objects of art and literature. However, by repeated exposure to fine art, they begin to see how big the world is and how long humans have been engaged in artistic expressions. History, combined with beauty, is ultimately an easy and useful lesson for children of any age.
In any case, we apparently had picked the hottest day of the summer to visit this stellar venue. Nonetheless, we managed to hit the highlights in the library, the art gallery and the new Chinese garden, Garden o fFlowing Fragrance. We wish the weather had been cooler, as our plan to see the Children’s Garden, which would have been a better choice for us, was sidetracked.
The Huntington is a place to return to over and over. Founded in 1919 by railroad and real estate magnate Henry Edwards Huntington, the estate was opened to the public in 1928. One Art Gallery occupies the original Beaux Arts mansion built for Henry and Arabelle Huntington in 1911. The residence houses a world-famous collection of British paintings by Gainsborough, Lawrence, Constable, Turner, Romney and Van Dyck; a short walk across the Shakespeare Garden is the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery which displays American paintings and decorative arts, including works by Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Frederick Remington, Gilbert Stuart and Edward Hopper.
The entire place is a feast for eye and soul.
When we returned to my home, the children took out the painting supplies I keep for them, including smocks, and sat down to capture a quickly arranged still life of roses and fruit. They became lost in their work, much as they had when new to painting as toddlers. Their paintings hang in my kitchen “gallery” alongside their cousins’ works.
It was avery happy day. Beauty and learning does that for you.
TO GO:
The Huntington
1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 405-2100 www.huntington.org
HOURS:Mon.,Wed., Thurs., Fri., noon to 4:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun.,10:30 to 4:30 p.m.
ADMISSION: Adults $15, Seniors (age 65+), $12, Students( age 12-18, or full-time ID) $10,Youth, (age 5-11) $6. Parking lot is free.
Admission is FREE to all on the first Thursday of each month with advanced tickets.
The Rose Garden Tea Room – (626) 683-8131. Reservations encouraged. Closed Tues. $24.95 per person; $12.49 for children ages 4-8, plus tax & gratuity.
Tea and Tour packages are available. Call 626-2240 or email tours@huntington.org to schedule a morning “Tea & Tour” for your group.
####
Angela Rocco DeCarlo, copyright, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
TOSCA FOR TOTS
Well, it’s not Cinderella. That’s for sure.
Giacomo Puccini’s great operatic masterpiece, Tosca, is not a children’s fairy tale. So I was a bit apprehensive about taking my seven-year old granddaughter Michelle to see Opera Pacific's Tosca – her first real opera at the Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, CA. She’d been listening to a Puccini piano recording since baby days at my house. We’d play school or the Lewis and Clark game I made up to Puccini’s heart-wrenching melodies. I couldn’t wait for her to be old enough to come with me to a real opera. Finally, I thought this second-grader was ready. After all, I did promise her.
Just five minutes after Michelle Christine was born – the girl I’d ordered for myself from BabyHeaven decades ago – I whispered a litany of all the wonderful things we would do together. Whether it was my soothing sounds or the prospect of lots of fun in the years ahead, this little newborn stopped bawling and turned her eyes toward her newly minted grandmama. I joyfully told her how she and I would play tea party, go to museums, plays, and even the opera. Obviously, this was more my fantasy than hers.
You see, after three sons I had a ton of pent-up ruffles & organdy. I spent my young mother years at endless Little League games and was dying to go to just one ballet. No dice –with three sons born in three and one half years it was a burlap life. Now that Michelle had arrived it was going to be satin all the way.
Michelle has seen famous paintings such as Blue Boy and Pinky and had tea at the Huntington Library & Museum. She’s visited over a dozen museums,some she even liked a lot. She loved the Thorne doll house rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago. “They’re so cute”, said the then-three-year old. The trip to San Diego to see Degas’ “Little Ballerina” sculpture was a bit too much. (We could have gone to the Norton Simon Museum) Too long a car ride tired her out completely. Though digging for dinosaur bones at Chicago’s Field Museum with her brother, Andrew, was l fun. You have to try lots of cultural experiences with children, as some turn out better than others.
Years ago, a friend and I had taken our seven sons, aged three to nine to the Art Institute of Chicago, to see a fabulous Auguste Renoir exhibit. It was madness. The crowds. The errant boys.What were we thinking? On the way home in the proverbial station wagon, sans seatbelts, I asked of no one in particular: “Did you like the exhibit?”. “Yes,” came a small voice from the way-way back; “ We counted 47 nudes.” Nudes? We naïve mothers had not given that a thought.
Now Tosca is a classic verismo (realistic) opera –featuring an on-stage attempted rape, a stabbing murder by the heroine, and a bloody execution followed by a spectacular suicide jump from the top of Rome’s Castle Saint Angelo. Puccini’s music is known for its flowing melodies, melting harmonies and rich orchestration suited to the passions of the main characters of the opera. I didn’t want to be a naïve grandmama so I gave this cultural venture some serious thought. Alas, there are few happy endings in opera so waiting for one wasn’t an option. I decided it would be Tosca. Still I worried.
So the question was – would it be too shocking for my seven-year granddaughter Michelle and her friend Breanna to see this verismo opera? I fretted about this quite a lot. I didn’t know exactly how to explain the opera.
The opera takes place on June 17, 1800, immediately after the Battle of Marengo between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Royalists who control Italy. This passionate drama has strong political overtones with a beautiful heroine, Floria Tosca, the lustful Chief of Police, (think KGB) Baron Scarpia and Tosca’s lover, political prisoner Cavaradossi. It is set in three historical places in Rome, Italy: A church, a palace, and fortress. Mario Cavaradossi is part of the political movement which seeks to overturn royal control of Rome. He ends up Scarpia’s captive.
Baron Scarpia is the most powerful enforcer for the royals. Tosca, celebrated for her beauty and talent, entertains the Queen in the opera, but her heart is with her lover Cavaradossi. Political events overtake the lovers quickly.
Baron Scarpia wants Tosca. He promises her Letters of Release (think Casablanca and Letters of Transit) for herself & her lover if she will give herself to Scarpia. While with Scarpia she is emotionally torn listening to the painful cries of Cavaradossi being tortured in the dungeon of the palace. Scarpia grabs at her – the more she resists the more inflamed his desires. They struggle. Ultimately she cannot allow herself to be taken by the vile Scarpia. Against opera convention of the time the heroine stabs and kills Scarpia. It is a shocking, sensational scene even today.
Now keep in mind this is all background to the most gorgeous Puccini music which tells the story so perfectly words are hardly necessary. It is Puccini’s melodic genius which has made his operas the most popular in the repertoire.
Nonetheless, for audiences at the opera’s debut in Rome in 1900, it was a cultural outrage to see on stage bloodied tortured Cavaradossi Worse to witness a beautiful, devoutly religious heroine commit the violent murder of the villain.
So as a rational loving grandmother I had to weigh the cultural benefits for seven-year old Michelle to be introduced to Puccini’s operas and the world of opera against any untoward effects of so much violent verismo.
As I struggled with this dilemma of how to explain all this political and passionate violence I’m rescued by the thought of popular culture’s iconic serial opera, Star Wars. A modern fairy tale set in the mythical future, instead of the mythical past.
I realize Michelle and millions of children have already experienced a politically violent drama of operatic proportions featuring a loathsome villain– Darth Vadar; a brave heroine – Princess Laia, and a political freedom fighter– Hans Solo. Michelle and her younger brother, Andrew, and all their little friends have repeatedly watched – and more importantly understand – all six episodes of the mythic political fairy tale, Star Wars.
I’m saved. I know just what to tell Michelle about Puccini's Tosca.
It’s Star Wars in live action, with beautiful singing, more glorious music and far prettier costumes, but with no special effects.
At the intermission following the scene where Floria Tosca stabs and kills the lustful Baron Scarpia, Michelle and her friend, Breanna, assure me Tosca did the right thing.
What?
I’m terrified these little girls will be shocked and horrified.
They are not. Now I'm shocked at that.
“She should have done that, “ they calmly explain.
After all, they’ve already experienced the convoluted and sensational Star Wars story. They know the bad guys are supposed to be destroyed in the end. And the beautiful heroine makes sure they are. Floria Tosca or Princess Laia - both are strong brave women. Even a seven-year old can see there are all kinds of fairy tales.
Giacomo Puccini’s great operatic masterpiece, Tosca, is not a children’s fairy tale. So I was a bit apprehensive about taking my seven-year old granddaughter Michelle to see Opera Pacific's Tosca – her first real opera at the Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, CA. She’d been listening to a Puccini piano recording since baby days at my house. We’d play school or the Lewis and Clark game I made up to Puccini’s heart-wrenching melodies. I couldn’t wait for her to be old enough to come with me to a real opera. Finally, I thought this second-grader was ready. After all, I did promise her.
Just five minutes after Michelle Christine was born – the girl I’d ordered for myself from BabyHeaven decades ago – I whispered a litany of all the wonderful things we would do together. Whether it was my soothing sounds or the prospect of lots of fun in the years ahead, this little newborn stopped bawling and turned her eyes toward her newly minted grandmama. I joyfully told her how she and I would play tea party, go to museums, plays, and even the opera. Obviously, this was more my fantasy than hers.
You see, after three sons I had a ton of pent-up ruffles & organdy. I spent my young mother years at endless Little League games and was dying to go to just one ballet. No dice –with three sons born in three and one half years it was a burlap life. Now that Michelle had arrived it was going to be satin all the way.
Michelle has seen famous paintings such as Blue Boy and Pinky and had tea at the Huntington Library & Museum. She’s visited over a dozen museums,some she even liked a lot. She loved the Thorne doll house rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago. “They’re so cute”, said the then-three-year old. The trip to San Diego to see Degas’ “Little Ballerina” sculpture was a bit too much. (We could have gone to the Norton Simon Museum) Too long a car ride tired her out completely. Though digging for dinosaur bones at Chicago’s Field Museum with her brother, Andrew, was l fun. You have to try lots of cultural experiences with children, as some turn out better than others.
Years ago, a friend and I had taken our seven sons, aged three to nine to the Art Institute of Chicago, to see a fabulous Auguste Renoir exhibit. It was madness. The crowds. The errant boys.What were we thinking? On the way home in the proverbial station wagon, sans seatbelts, I asked of no one in particular: “Did you like the exhibit?”. “Yes,” came a small voice from the way-way back; “ We counted 47 nudes.” Nudes? We naïve mothers had not given that a thought.
Now Tosca is a classic verismo (realistic) opera –featuring an on-stage attempted rape, a stabbing murder by the heroine, and a bloody execution followed by a spectacular suicide jump from the top of Rome’s Castle Saint Angelo. Puccini’s music is known for its flowing melodies, melting harmonies and rich orchestration suited to the passions of the main characters of the opera. I didn’t want to be a naïve grandmama so I gave this cultural venture some serious thought. Alas, there are few happy endings in opera so waiting for one wasn’t an option. I decided it would be Tosca. Still I worried.
So the question was – would it be too shocking for my seven-year granddaughter Michelle and her friend Breanna to see this verismo opera? I fretted about this quite a lot. I didn’t know exactly how to explain the opera.
The opera takes place on June 17, 1800, immediately after the Battle of Marengo between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Royalists who control Italy. This passionate drama has strong political overtones with a beautiful heroine, Floria Tosca, the lustful Chief of Police, (think KGB) Baron Scarpia and Tosca’s lover, political prisoner Cavaradossi. It is set in three historical places in Rome, Italy: A church, a palace, and fortress. Mario Cavaradossi is part of the political movement which seeks to overturn royal control of Rome. He ends up Scarpia’s captive.
Baron Scarpia is the most powerful enforcer for the royals. Tosca, celebrated for her beauty and talent, entertains the Queen in the opera, but her heart is with her lover Cavaradossi. Political events overtake the lovers quickly.
Baron Scarpia wants Tosca. He promises her Letters of Release (think Casablanca and Letters of Transit) for herself & her lover if she will give herself to Scarpia. While with Scarpia she is emotionally torn listening to the painful cries of Cavaradossi being tortured in the dungeon of the palace. Scarpia grabs at her – the more she resists the more inflamed his desires. They struggle. Ultimately she cannot allow herself to be taken by the vile Scarpia. Against opera convention of the time the heroine stabs and kills Scarpia. It is a shocking, sensational scene even today.
Now keep in mind this is all background to the most gorgeous Puccini music which tells the story so perfectly words are hardly necessary. It is Puccini’s melodic genius which has made his operas the most popular in the repertoire.
Nonetheless, for audiences at the opera’s debut in Rome in 1900, it was a cultural outrage to see on stage bloodied tortured Cavaradossi Worse to witness a beautiful, devoutly religious heroine commit the violent murder of the villain.
So as a rational loving grandmother I had to weigh the cultural benefits for seven-year old Michelle to be introduced to Puccini’s operas and the world of opera against any untoward effects of so much violent verismo.
As I struggled with this dilemma of how to explain all this political and passionate violence I’m rescued by the thought of popular culture’s iconic serial opera, Star Wars. A modern fairy tale set in the mythical future, instead of the mythical past.
I realize Michelle and millions of children have already experienced a politically violent drama of operatic proportions featuring a loathsome villain– Darth Vadar; a brave heroine – Princess Laia, and a political freedom fighter– Hans Solo. Michelle and her younger brother, Andrew, and all their little friends have repeatedly watched – and more importantly understand – all six episodes of the mythic political fairy tale, Star Wars.
I’m saved. I know just what to tell Michelle about Puccini's Tosca.
It’s Star Wars in live action, with beautiful singing, more glorious music and far prettier costumes, but with no special effects.
At the intermission following the scene where Floria Tosca stabs and kills the lustful Baron Scarpia, Michelle and her friend, Breanna, assure me Tosca did the right thing.
What?
I’m terrified these little girls will be shocked and horrified.
They are not. Now I'm shocked at that.
“She should have done that, “ they calmly explain.
After all, they’ve already experienced the convoluted and sensational Star Wars story. They know the bad guys are supposed to be destroyed in the end. And the beautiful heroine makes sure they are. Floria Tosca or Princess Laia - both are strong brave women. Even a seven-year old can see there are all kinds of fairy tales.
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