Opera

On Sunday we took the kids to see an opera. Yes, you read right. We took our four year old and 18 month old to see their first opera. Crazy? Quite possibly. As a matter of fact it was our first opera too.

We went to see Amahl and the Night Visitors. It is a great little story about a precocious boy who likes to spin tales. He and his mom are extremely poor and Amahl’s visions of grandeur are one night made a reality when three kings (the three Wisemen on their way to see the baby Jesus) knock on his door.

I have to say the kids did remarkably well! Jonah sat and munched on his graham crackers and intermittently pointed to the singers and then randomly to the lighting. Ellie did eventually whisper her questions rather than yell them out loud. And since it was only an hour long and the opera took place in a church where the performers used the aisle during the performance (so they were right there next to you at times) it kept the kids and us entirely engaged the whole time. On top of that having a live orchestra and choral singers, well, it was all very moving.

So Ellie and Jonah got a little culture this weekend. Frankly, I'm glad. I was beginning to fear they thought the tv was the center of the universe.