A List Of "Firsts"

The first movie Joshua and I saw together was "Munich". We went to see "Munich" on the evening of the first day we met. We met each other that afternoon for coffee, both of us expecting to down our coffee and to bolt, later to report to our Dads that we had performed our duties, as requested. Instead, Josh and I talked for a couple of hours, after which we had a bite to eat and then went to the movies. Afterward, we ate dinner together.

The first art exhibition Josh and I attended together was a small Winslow Homer exhibition, mostly watercolors, at the National Gallery Of Art. We attended this exhibition the second day we met.

The first concert Josh and I attended together was a song recital by Jennifer Larmore and Antoine Palloc. That recital was in the Ordway Center in Saint Paul, and we went with my parents.

The first theater performance Josh and I attended together was "Light In The Piazza", which we saw in New York, again with my parents. The first theater performance we attended by ourselves was at Easter, when we attended a performance of "Hamlet", the final offering at the old Guthrie Theater before the company moved into its controversial new building.

The first opera performance we heard together was Rossini's "La Donna Del Lago", which we attended with my parents on a Sunday afternoon about a month ago. Ewa Podles sang Malcolm, and she was very impressive. Before we attended, I played for Josh the Ewa Podles album of Rossini arias on the Naxos label, which includes one track from "La Donna Del Lago". Last Sunday afternoon, we attended a performance of "The Tales Of Hoffman" with my parents. Both opera performances were by the Minnesota Opera.

Josh and I have never attended a ballet performance together, but a week from Sunday we will go with my parents to attend a performance of "Don Quixote" by the Miami City Ballet on the campus of the University Of Minnesota.

Josh and I do not ALWAYS go places with my parents. Last week, for instance, both he and I and my parents went to hear Mahler's Sixth--but on different nights. And my parents will be attending a couple of the special Beethoven Cycle concerts by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with Roberto Abbado and Lars Vogt, but Josh and I will be skipping all of those concerts.

However, next Wednesday night, we WILL be going with my parents to hear a recital by Anne-Sophie Mutter--but Josh and I always spend Wednesday nights with my Mom and Dad, and we all four want to hear Miss Mutter, and it seems sort of silly for us to drive to Saint Paul in separate cars and to attend the recital in separate seats.