Zurich Opera, opinions?

So, on a lark I went to see about opera tickets for Patty and I in Zurich Saturday night. Sold out and sold out hard. That said, there are a very few tickets for the Friday performance of Die Zauberflöte. The seats available are astounding and priced accordingly.

I am a little, tiny, novice baby in my opera education, and enjoy it for the broad experience of it -- yes the music and the singers, but I care deeply about staging and costume, audience behavior, opera house decor, the whole bloody fabulous thing because I was sort of ruined for How Opera Really Is by Luhrmann's production of La Boheme being the vehicle by which I discovered I actually really dig opera. My ruination for How Opera Really Is has also been compounded by an obsession with Baroque semi-opera, so I'm not just a novice, I'm a weird, picky novice.

So, in light of that should I drop almost 200 francs to go to the opera by myself on Friday night before Patty gets in?

Conversely, I could drop 98 francs to see La Fanciulla del West a week from tomorrow in somewhat less stellar seats (of which there is one left, so I need to make this decision like now).

I know Die Zauberflöte a little. I don't know La Fanciulla del West at all (but since it's Puccini, it will be easily accessible, so it's not really a worry).

Thoughts?

Particularly from opera buffs who've been to the Zurich Opera and can appreciate my novice state and interest beyond just sound?

Merci!

ETA: If I do this, I desperately need to know the level of formality for my attire, as I assume it to be different here than in the US.

sundries

For those following along I just bought an egregiously expensive ticket to Die Zauberflöte for Friday night. Sixth row. Center. Now to figure out all the train stuff, which is slightly complicated. I am curious, but somewhat in a "that sounds like a terrible idea" way about La Fanciulla del West, and have just been informed it's currently running in New York, I will go see it there with the cheap seats.

Now, do I wear my dress and show off the tattoo or do I do my awesome expensive jeans, custom dress shirt, waistcoat, suit jacket look? The problem is that every choice is a story.

Windows users may have had some problems with the Inception: The Musical download yesterday. We've got the problem fixed, so if you encountered it, please try again.

My to-do list is so fucking long you don't even want to know. It involves writing copy, working on creative things, sending stuff for editing, various guest apps/speakers apps/CFPs for cons and other events, travel arrangements, and just the whole general world domination thing. I should also call my mom.

Speaking of, I just became that asshole who's bummed because their favorite room at their favorite hotel is booked on the night they want it. So am I booking a different room? No. I'm hovering over availability day by day in hopes that other person cancels. The rest of my life needs to catch up with these impulses, stat.

A book in which I have a paper about conflict-focused coverage in US television media was released today at a major UN event. Yeah, really. See, I have this whole life of awesome I don't even talk about here.

Meanwhile, does anyone have any special requests for theme for tomorrow's Wicked Wednesdays?

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My body, aside from just being mine, is also my tool, my instrument, and my product. The idea that I should be all right with this manner of its treatment is entirely beyond me, and I'm lucky in the number of complicating factors these experiences don't bring to the table for me. This shit is not okay.

Fighting bullies with babies.

"Days before Christmas 1933 ... Edith May took her 4-year-old daughter Felice to a five-and-dime store and bought her a wooden horse. Seventy-seven years later, Felice May Dunn owns two farms and 17 Welsh ponies." -- The beneficiaries of B. Virdot.

Andrew Shirvell has been fired as a state assistant attorney general for his harassment of a gay college student.

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So Merlin! ( it's still (mostly) crap, but I finally get it! )