Aida at the ball park, San Francisco Opera, Sept. 24 2010

What fun! In recent years San Francisco Opera has been simulcasting a live performance of an opera to AT&T Park, where the San Francisco Giants play. They wisely chose a late-September date for the event; we often get our warmest weather at that time. Nevertheless, I went loaded for bear, with a woolen overshirt and two jackets, prepared for the vagaries that might be presented. I only needed the overshirt. It stayed very pleasant all evening long, from 8:00 to 10:55. I don't know whether they chose Sept. 25 for the full moon as well, but as I took my seat said moon had just appeared over the East Bay hills and the moonbeams were reflecting off the Bay.

I had failed to make contact with friends who were saving a seat (note to self: be in line at 5:30 next year, not 7:30, and try to zero in on section 212), and wound up one level above. That seat turned out to be perfectly fine: just a little bit above the gigantic display screen above center field, and a bit left of home plate. The display screen, if I remember correctly, measures 103 feet diagonally. It's a smaller field of view than my seat in the opera house, but with the camera closeups, it makes no difference. The sound doesn't match what is heard in the opera house, but it's entirely adequate in the best sense of the words. You get to go to the opera wearing your jeans, you get to eat garlic fries and other ball park food, and in a pre-performance announcement the general director admonished the folks at the opera house to turn off their cell phones but said that the folks at the ball park could do what we want.

The performers were the same as when I saw it at the opera house, but for this special occasion I think they dug a little deeper and delivered an even more impressive performance -- except for Marco Vratogna as Amonasro, who continued to be the most impressive of all.

At intermission, our hosts (KDFC announcers) told us that the attendance was estimated at 32,000. I think that's a record for the four or five ball park simulcasts. I hope they all turn into subscribers!