Thursday, January 28, 2016

Operatif*

Sunset from Speedway Blvd.
We haven't explored too much of the city of Tucson.  There seem to be two major four-lane boulevards that stretch the city's length east to west.  They are sometimes divided by trees.  One, named Speedway is anything but.  There are stop lights every block.  But, stopping gave us the opportunity this evening to marvel at the sunset.  We were on our way to attend an Operatif ,a play on the word aperitif, to discuss Carmen, the Opera we will attend on Saturday.  Unfortunately, our e-tickets said 6:30 pm but the event was for 6:00 pm.  It was a very small group of 9 people.  The music director for the Arizona Opera led the discussion, and what little we heard was interesting.  Also, the woman who took our tickets has promised to reimburse us.  The Arizona Opera performs in both Tucson and Phoenix.  Their seasons are a mixture of popular standards such as Madam Butterfly and Turandot, not so popular standards and new pieces.  The director said this was a choice to increase attendance and get out from under a 5 million dollar debt.  The Music Hall is adjacent to the convention center and near historic downtown Tucson which is mostly comprised of local businesses and museums.  The oldest part of the University of Arizona's campus begins here.  That campus is huge, too.  

More sunset pictures are at flickr.
*Carmen by Georges Bizet