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The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra
Next concert:
Symphony Season Finale-- Sat. May 3rd 508-478-5924 Mail: 54 Claflin Street, Milford, MA 01757 Office: 208 Main Street, Suite 109, Milford, MA
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Eva Friedner-- A Ten Year Old's Opera Experience It was springtime in Queens, NY and I had just celebrated my tenth birthday. My parents, who were opera and classical music buffs and went to Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall regularly, had given me a special present - tickets for the opera. We were to go into Manhattan for dinner in our favorite 'special occasion restaurant', "Eclair," which served the most fabulous Viennese pastries for dessert! Then there would be a taxi ride to the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. Of course at that time folks got all dressed up to go to the opera. Women wore long gowns and mink stoles and men wore dark suits or tuxedos. I wore my very best dress and party shoes, feeling very special indeed. My mom wore a lovely long blue dress (but no mink). The opera building itself and the Lincoln Center complex were a sight to behold. Fountains, lights, beautiful people strolling around, and the smell of spring flowers in the air. I remember marveling at the enormous curving staircase in the opera house and the magnificent chandelier hanging above it. The opera was "The Magic Flute" by Mozart. I was well prepared as my father explained the story to me ahead of time so that I could understand what was going on, given the fact that the opera was sung in Italian. He and my mom always perused the libretto before going to an opera. I was transfixed from the moment the conductor came out to the applause of the audience till the curtain dropped after the finale. That was a memorable first day at the opera and in the ensuing years I was given the opportunity to go to other favorite operas, such as "Don Giovanni," The Marriage of Figarro," "Madame Butterfly," "Othello," and "Carmen." Eva Friedner
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