My plan in fact worked well, but I may have to repeat it just before each opera. My friend made a couple of comments near the beginning, but I kept my eyes focused on the screen and did not make any sound of acknowledgement when she spoke. After those first few comments, she was quiet. I forgot to remind her during intermission but she stayed quiet.

Last night's broadcast was Thomas Ades' The Tempest. The composer was also the conductor. I would not call the score beautiful, but as a whole the opera was interesting. One of the characters, Trinculo (iesten Davies), was a counter-tenor role. Listening to Ariel, (Audrey Luna), I wondered if there is such a thing as a counter-soprano! Most of the time she seemed to be singing at the upper range of the human voice. Also, she was very strong and agile. During the intermission interview, she credited the person (from the dance troupe?) who did the opening instrumental sequence swinging from a chandelier in a Cirque du Soleil way, but what she had to do with her body while singing looked difficult to me!