Ridiculous to the sublime...

That was our week...the Sublime was the peformance of Die Meistersinger in the Staatsopera in Vienna. The ridiculous was the performance in the Italian senate during the debate on whether of shut down the current (Prodi) government, which it did.

Start with the ridiculous. Tempers flaring, heated exchanges, champagne flowing on the senate floor (literally on the floor) and a senator spitting in another's face. So if you wish to see an out of control country...click on these 3 You Tube clips to see  what passes for government here. These scenes occurred during the "debate" and the champagne business was at the announcement that the government had fallen. During the last clip, the president of the senate is yelling to the revellers that "this is not an osteria". Here are the clips:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3_F5JPHZxBc&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IBEHZcwy_R4&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KMTbw_Ml6_E&feature=related

Now the sublime, Die Meistersinger. Fantastic singing, wonderful sets, full opera house, all elegantly dressed. 6 hours of pleasure. Bravo Wagner! Bravo Vienna! Hear and see Ben Heppner (who was not in this week's performance) singing the Prize Song sung by von Stolzing by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPAgTnmGF5Y .

Having beautiful weather here in Venice. Yesterday the "Angelo" flew down from the campanile in S Marco, recreating an traditional event at the first day of Carnival. Historically, it is a woman, dressed angelically, who floats down a wire to the base of the Campanile distributing sweets along the way. Usually she is accompanied by fairy-type music. My friend Frank took his 4 year old daughter to see this spectacle yesterday also witnessed by 40,000 people. Except... Frank tells me, the fairy was a black rapper in a black wrapper, who floated down to the accompaniment of rap "music". If any Venetians were at this business, well... perplexed would be a good word for them. Venice knows how to outdo itself in stupidity.