Puccini in Lucca

Saturday might, after a goodbye snack with Luana's family at their place outside the walls in San Concordio, we met Gabriella, along with Vivienne,her son Giacomo and her mother-in-law Lidia in town to see a performance of La Bohemie. It took place inside the deconsecrated church of San Giovanni, a very old church which now normally serves as an archeological display, as several layers worth of Christian- and Roman-era excavations are now available for viewing under the church floors.
The performance itself was spartan but very effective. For 30 euros, we had only expected a standing recital of the opera; instead, it was acted in total, on a minimalist set, with modern clothes for costumes (it felt a bit a bit like a non-dress rehearsal). Background actors/singers appeared on stage in the form of small choirs; Over the small stage hung a large screen on which was projected a live video of close-ups of the actors and the orchestra, or sometimes a slide or short piece of footage of a Lucchese scene (like a bar or a public building) which related to the scene at hand. Our seats (cafe chairs) were just 30 feet from the stage, and a one point the players exited their scene by walking up the center aisle and standing right next to us, which was great fun.
The singing and music was first-rate, Nancy and I thought as good or better than we had seen at the L.A. Opera; the tenor had a little trouble being heard over the orchestra, but this seems to be a normal thing in La Boheme.
We drove Gabriella back home to Guamo, where she insisted on feeding us a late-night snack.