Magic Flute in Vienna!

Three days ago we managed to get tickets to the Magic Flute at the Vienna Opera, and this was the night. The performance was simply marvelous, though our seats were well on the left, even higher than you see here (I moved down after the last curtain to take this shot). A strikingly high proportion of the action was on the left corner of the stage, leaving us our ears and the surtitles with the text in front of our seats. But still we would not have missed it for the world--I adore Mozart. The opera is an outrageously inventive fairy tale, but it transported us with it.

For the curious who know the opera, the characters are (from the left--see it large): three child spirits, Papagena (yellow skirt), Monostratos, Sarastro (doubtless on short stilts), Pamina, Pagageno, Tamino, Queen of the Night, three ladies, Speaker of the Temple. Pamina and Tamino changed into street clothes in the final scene, after they had gone through all their trials.