It is my birthday today and I have now reached pensionable age which I find very difficult to believe as inside I feel about 20. Sadly, the outside does not look 20....I have had a good day at work with flowers and cards and when I came home found some CDs waiting for me. Here are some of my birthday flowers:
and here are some more:
I am sitting looking at them as I am writing this and they are filling the room with their fragrance.
I was also very lucky with two complete opera sets from my very good friend, Rosemary, my companion at Follies up in London a week or two ago. She knows what I like!
First up, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. I adore this opera and now finally have a complete recording in my possession. For some reason, this was an unfilled gap in my collection but no more. Main reason for its purchase is, of course, the utterly sexy and gorgeous Dmitri (sadly I know I am utterly sexy and gorgeous) Hvorostovosky as Onegin and I am looking forward to listening to this.
I have to say I have a slight bias against dear Dmitri as he won Cardiff Singer of the World some 20 years ago and beat Bryn to the title (the mighty Bryn won the Lieder prize but in my opinion he should have won the whole thing) but I have forgiven him.
And on my right, one of my favourite Verdi operas, Don Carlos. I know that the Royal Opera House 
have a new production coming up this summer (and indeed the latest edition of About the House the magazine for Friends of Covent Garden has just arrived and I will be looking at in in a mo) and this is definitely on my must see list. It is Verdi's grandest of grand operas and many years ago I saw an incredible performance at Covent Garden with Gobbi and Christoff, conducted by Carlo Maria Guilini which still lives in my mind. This brooding Don Carlos, is of course, the Mighty Placido (be still my beating heart) and yes I know the picture is some 30 uears old but gosh he is lovely and even now is as sexy as hell, and oh the VOICE..
You will remember me raving about Die Walkure last year with Placide AND Bryn. As I sat there listening, I remember thinking that this was just one of those nights that are never forgotten and things don't get much better than this...
All in all, not a bad birthday!! and on Saturday I have a birthday lunch organised by my darling daughters so it is going to be a good week.
