Metropolitan Opera Recital

The Metropolitan Opera hosts free recitals during the summer in each of the five boroughs in New York City. The one in Queens was tonight at the Socrates Sculpture Park. The park is on the banks of the East River. The view of the city across the river was great.

I met Brian at the Queensborough Plaza subway stop as he was coming from work. We transferred trains there and rode up a few stops into Astoria. The park was about 8 blocks from the subway stop. We got to the park about an hour before the recital started. We could hear the singers warming their voices up while we were still about a block from the park.

Surprisingly, there were only a few people there. We got an awesome spot close to the front of the stage. I had brought dinner with me, and we spread out our blanket and enjoyed a little picnic. While we were eating, we got to watch the people around us. A lot of them also had brought food, and wine. There were lots of people drinking their wine from paper cups and eating crackers and cheese along with it. It was kind of funny.

It was super sunny and quite toasty when we first got there. Not nearly as hot as it has been the last few days, but still quite warm. While we were waiting for things to start, the sun moved behind some clouds, and it cooled the air down to the perfect temperature. It also made for some gorgeous skies.

There were three singers that performed during the recital: Layla Claire, Renee Tatum, and Ryan Speedo Green. The pianist's name is Bradley Moore.

The music and singing was incredible. Before each song, the singer would explain a little about the selection they were about to sing. That was nice, because I didn't understand any of the words they sang. I loved it still the same.

I've never heard opera singers perform live before, so this was totally cool. Even though we were in a grungy little park, it was so fun. I got a taste of this beautiful music and find myself craving more.

Brian started laughing when I mentioned that I really liked the one singer's purple dress. It was all flowy and pretty, and was one of the first things I noticed when she came on stage.

Brian really liked it too, at least the parts he heard. I looked over at him and he had fallen asleep. It's because he was all stretched out and comfortable while listening to the music. The nice temperature plus the music had lulled him right to sleep. He would wake up enough to clap after each song, which was pretty funny.

I included a video I took of the singing. It is short and very quiet, but will show you what it was like.

Rain clouds were building up behind the stage as it ended and lightning started to flash. We walked back to the subway, and luckily made it before the rain. By the time we reached the station where we needed to transfer trains, it had started raining. It was raining hard too. We got off the subway, and walked underneath it as far as we could on the way home. We finally had to leave the dryness of the tunnel and venture out in the rain. It was cold and we were immediately soaked. We ran the two blocks to our apartment and stood dripping wet inside the front door of the building. It was ridiculous how wet we were! It was a fun night, and an awesome experience.