If Music Be the Food of Love

- then, by all means, play on!

Once again Summer is almost coming to an end - some (like yours truely) are looking forward to Autumn, while others may not relish the thought of colder weather.

One of the reasons why I'm so looking forward to Autumn in Chicago is The Lyric Opera and especially their traditional outdoors concert - this year the Lyric Opera Stars will shine on September 10th at Millennium Park. And it's all free!

The first year I was in Chicago, my boyfriend (now husband) took me to hear the stars of the lyric opera. That year, to my great and joyous surprise, the concert was conducted by Sir Andrew Davis (see earlier blog entry), and it turned out to be a fantastic night with wonderful music performed by some of the world's greatest. We'd packed a small picnic basket and just sat back and enjoyed the music, the warm night, and a bottle of champagne.

The wonderful thing about the Lyric Opera's free concert-tradition is not only that it is free, but rather that it is such a generous and inviting introduction to some of opera's most popular and beautiful arias, overtures, and choruses. It's a splendid way of introducing a new audience to the world of opera - if only more "novices" would attend. We were struck by the fact that it seemed that most of the audience were middleaged or older. It's a shame that younger people have failed to take advantage of this great event.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to going again this year - having for some reason missed last year's concert. I'll have to come up with a new dress design to wear... Perhaps I'll be seing you there?