Great music, cheap

A month and a half ago I dug deep, found $15, and bought a ticket to Catholic University's production of "The marriage of Figaro." It's not my favorite opera, but I'd heard good things about CU's music school and hey, I did have $15 to spare.

It was fabulous. Almost all the performers were excellent, and two of them, Cherubino and Count Almaviva, were wonderful -- great voices and terrific actors. They both should be performing professionally, and I expect they soon will be.

Fortunately, I just found a video of the production. Unfortunately, the audio is terrible (although it gets better -- or I get used to it -- after a while). Despite the audio shotcomings, it's worth checking out. Cherubino makes his/her entrance at about the 26 minute mark and a minute or so later launches into "Non so più cosa son." The Count makes his entrance when he/she finishes. (Cherubino sings "Voi che sapete" at about the 56:30 mark. Don't miss it.)

PS The great duet used in The Shawshank Redemption begins at about 02:23:30.