so i'm a little slow on the uptake....

last night at rehearsal we watched an old performance of suor angelica. so here's the thing, i've listened to this thing a few times now and i'm always a little amused towards the end when angelica decides to kill herself, she starts saying goodbye to everything and it's the happiest sounding music in the whole opera. (at least to me) but i couldn't quite put my finger on why it struck me, until seeing it last night and it hit me. it's so perfect, she's upset until that moment she decides to end her life. duh. i know, i know, most people probably don't think about suicide as making a person happy and i think that's why puccini got it right. anyhoo, was a bit dissapointed with the dvd they did some weird thing with the ending, they keep the camera tight on angelica and then overlayed (i think) some picture of the madonna and child (so no clue what it looked like on stage). i thought, "great, just destroy the redemption angle on that."

backing up.... angelica is in the convent because she had a child out of wedlock, during the opera we find out she's been there for seven years with not a peep from her family, then her aunt shows up, tells her her sister is getting married and angelica needs to give up her inheritance. angelica throws a fit and asks about her son, is told he died a couple years ago, so angelica kills herself by drinking poison (so she's got some time to sing)but at the last moment realizes she's just condemned herself to hell so she prays to the BVM and in most stagings, the statue of Mary comes to life and brings a little boy out to meet angelica as she dies. see!? God isn't so hateful! he understands! and whoever directed the La Scala version way back when just totally ignored that. gah! that's almost as bad as the time i saw the Barber of Seville and the director had figaro and all the servants kill everybody at the end. (hello!!!? what about that other opera where he gets married!?)