As delightful as the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Massenet’s CENDRILLON was, which I was fortunate to have seen on opening night Thursday, the whole evening was filled with melancholy for me, because my mind drifted back to Milan in the late 1970s, when I “saw” this opera for the first time at La Scala.
My friend Grant Goodman and I were spending the summer in Italy, and Milan was the second stop on the itinerary. We had just toured the magnificent Duomo, including the breath-taking rococo steeples on the expansive rooftop, and now we were just sauntering around the plaza near La Scala. Frederica von Stade, one of Grant’s favorite singers, was appearing in a production of Massenet’s CENDRILLON, but we didn’t have tickets. Luckily, we were soon approached by a scalper who offered two tickets at exorbitant prices, even though he admitted one of the seats had “a limited view of the stage.” Grant paid no heed, and paid for the tickets.
The seats were on the last row of the uppermost balcony, and my seat, the one with “a limited view of the stage,” was actually behind a white column around which I had to shift, now left and now right, in order to catch a glimpse of what’s going on below. I soon gave up, and settled back with my eyes closed, content to just listen. Grant laughed uproariously through much of the evening. He did offer to trade seats with me a number of times, but he was enjoying the opera too much for me to deny him the full experience.
At the end of that summer, and for many years afterwards, Grant said that seeing his beloved Frederica von Stade in Massenet’s CENDRILLON In Milan was an unexpected dream come true, and that I was such a good sport to watch the whole opera with him from behind a white column on the last row of the uppermost balcony at La Scala.
At the Metropolitan Opera the other night, my seat in the center section of the orchestra was six rows from the stage. But, as delightful as the production was, as luminous as Joyce DiDonato always is, I closed my eyes, listening to the music, pretending that Grant Goodman was still sitting beside me, laughing throughout the evening, even though it has now been four years since he died and left us, and I was sad.
Tears filled my eyes reading this, but not of sadness, but of a romantic joy. What we do to make our partners happy is to care for them, give up for them, and to give up all over again for the when we get the opportunity. To have relived the opportunity to feel that closeness again must have been wonderful. I think of Grant frequently because he provided for me the opportunity to go to visit with Paul in Pioneer cemetery. And I think of you just as frequently because you gave me the opportunity to kick furniture around, sentence recalcitrant nieces to death, and eat an old grandmother while spouting Benthamite utilitarianism. Thank you. And don’t be sad, you wonderful guy!
Dear Paul:
What a wonderful memory of a fine person! It brought tears to my eyes.
Vic
Oh my dear friend . . .you make my heart ache for you. Yet your story illustrates so well your partnership with Grant and how bittersweet such memories can be.
Dear Paul
What a tender, moving memory. I wish I had met Grant all those years ago even though I think I was too young to appreciate the depth of your relationship – and him and you. Still I feel fortunate to get to read your beautiful words after all this time and catch a glimpse of Grant. This teaches me to cherish every moment. Thank you.