BEMF opening Gala at French Library after the opera. We started an hour before the guests were to arrive, assisting the caterer by carrying baskets of food, bowls of sauces, arranging cookies and breads. An unexpected question: “Can you arrange flowers?” Not my specialty, but for a time I cut and positioned papyrus reeds, orchids and geraniums in vases to decorate the banquet tables.
Soon the curtain dropped at the opera and people started to arrive. And arrive, and arrive, until the rooms were near capacity. There were conversations in French to be heard along with other languages, not all of them familiar. Old friends met, new acquaintances made. Ample amity and enjoyment went on in all the rooms.
Tenor J_M_ who usually sports a fine beard was seen bare-chinned, the reason? “Can’t have a beard when you play a girl“, which he did in several different roles in Psyche.
More trays of food to carry up the stairs, cups and plates to collect and carry down the stairs, until the Librarie manager blinked the lights. Final cleanup, then a slow process of leaving, as the evening merriment continued in the vestibule, on the stair, and a milling throng on the sidewalk. It was at least an hour into the next day before home and rest.
LayMusic.org 