I went to the opera again on Friday, to see Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, neither of which I'd ever heard of as such (it seems they are usually paired together), although the Smokey Robinson song "Tears of a Clown" seems to reference the latter--although this writer has another theory:
The lyric is from "Tears of a Clown," written by one William "Smokey" Robinson, performed by same, and accompanied by a now-defunct band called "The Miracles." The song was something of a hit a few decades ago. But I'm not sure Mr. Robinson is referring to the opera. I think he's making a sly reference to one of the greatest jokes of all time: A man goes to a therapist. "Doctor," he says, "I'm miserable. My life isn't worth living. I'm so unhappy. I want to kill myself." The doctor reaches into his pocket and hands the man a ticket. "Go to the theater tonight. The great clown Pagliacci is in town. If he can't make you laugh, no one can!" "But, doctor," the man replies, "I am Pagliacci!"Riiiiight.
Anyway, it was a good time, although the cast energy for Cavalleria Rusticana seemed a little low. They're both tragic operas, but Cavalleria has a level of drama that made me feel like I was watching a silent movie. Same music, even.
Naturally, I left my jacket at the theater, so I got to try and navigate San Jose to get it. I had originally planned to go to the Tech Museum, but ran out of energy and just scoped out Recycle Books instead.
Hah.
My hands hurt. This is not a good thing. But then, my kitchen needs to be cleaned, too.
Time for bed. I'm going into the office early tomorrow, since I couldn't work effectively from home tonight. Phooey.