Shiree and I just attended our 37th (!) opera, The Seattle Opera's production of Bluebeard's Castle, a wholly engrossing twisted and dark psychological production. Every aspect of the performance, the music, the story, the set, the singing, and acting contributed to one of the most memorable evenings of opera I've had and was a perfect example of why we keep going back. Seattle, for being a pretty small city, is lucky to have such a world class opera. The music, written by Bela Bartok 90 years ago is surprisingly modern with its loud-quiet-loud repeating pattern and quietly looping background melodies which perfectly suit the narrative, a series of dark revelations about a woman's new groom, a mysterious man with whom she fell in love and eloped before knowing him perhaps as well as she should have. The story begins with a narrator appearing in front of the stage who tells us that the story exists as much in our minds as it does on the stage, setting us up for the power
