Sydney Opera House

Landmarks

The sun did not know how beautiful its light was, 

until it was reflected off this building. - Louis Kahn

The sky is clean and upbeat, sunny as ever. We're in Australia, headed to the Sydney Opera House to purchase tickets for the evening performance of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (Marriage of Figaro).

I lift my chin, dazzled by unexpected brightness. I spot a large, white sculpture looming in the harbor, catching and mirroring the sky in all its varied lights. I'm impressed.

Its white shell-shaped roof tiles give the feeling of moving upwards, soaring with sails, I note with obvious appreciation. I take a deep breath and exhale. I want to appear keen, alert to nuances.

All around and below the iconic structure's massive red granite platform, circles of sunlight dapple the rushing waters of Bennelong Point.  

Then all at once, in a dizzying moment, I feel the heat as the sun rises higher and higher and higher still, straight, straight up. I stop to catch my breath. The iconic edifice is so full of radiance that I imagine the people coming around as if they were in the negative of photos - gray, with white features.

A fresh breeze blows in over the shore of Sydney Harbor. The day gleaming with a golden luminosity looks like it had been stolen from a place of darkness.

Entra Figaro. I can see him in my mind's eye. My heart is suddenly full of song. 

Cantante. His voice will peal like a glass bell through the warm summer day.

La, la, la, la, la, la!