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Nature at the Opera LbNA #15834

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jun 3, 2005
Location:
City:Cooperstown
County:Otsego
State:New York
Boxes:4
Planted by:lisascenic
Found by: Ohioskater
Last found:Oct 24, 2010
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFa
Last edited:Jun 3, 2005
Directions
Glimmerglass is located at 7300 State Highway 80, near Springfield Center. Please park across the street from the opera house. During performances, only vehicles with special permits are allowed on the opera grounds. (Note the "Opera Crossing" sign. It has become sort of a mascot for the opera staff.)

Introduction
The Goodyear Swamp Sanctuary (actually a marsh) is located at the back of the grounds of the Glimmerglass Opera. These boxes are a silly attempt of mine to combine opera themes with creatures you might see at the sanctuary.

Clue
#1 Madame Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly tells a story of Japanese and American cultures colliding with tragic results. (Which, in keeping with operatic tradition, is sung in Italian!)


Our "Butterfly" is a New York native.


To find her, start at the trail head for the Goodyear Swamp Sanctuary at the back of the opera grounds. At the kiosk, look beyond the Glimmerglass Overlook.


#2 Song Bird

Over the years, Glimmerglass Opera has produced numerous Baroque operas, notably the works of George Frideric Handel. This box is in honor of the Baroque soprano Francesca Cuzzoni, for whom Handel wrote many of his greatest roles. An audience member at one of her London performance famously shouted from the balcony, "Damne! She's got a nest of nightingales in her belly!"

When Cuzzoni refused to sing one of Handel's arias, claiming it was too simplicistic, Handel reputedly said,"Madam, I know you are a veritable devil, but I would have you know that I am Beelzebub, chief of the Devils" and threatened to toss her out a second story window. History does not report if our song bird could actually fly.

To find our song bird, look under the first paladromic step leading to the boardwalk.


#3 Fly House

The architectural structure that houses the stage scenery is called a fly house. Although the theater at Glimmerglass was built to blend in with the barns in the area, the lofty fly house is a give-away of the building's real purpose.

If one is lucky, one may see a wood duck in the swamp sanctuary. These ducks are notable in that they roost in trees. The swamp sanctuary has provided these ducks with roosting houses. Okay, this is a real stretch....but these ducks fly to their houses.

Find the plaque that tells about wood ducks. The boardwalk near this sight rounds a bend. At the accute angle of the corner, examine the posts holding up the boardwalk.

#4 Die Fledermaus -- Sort Of...

Johann Strauss Jr.'s operetta is a bit of waltzy, schmaltzy fun that involves mistaken identities, practical jokes, and a bat costume.

Our Fledermaus isn't actually a bat, but it is a sort of a flying mammal. Find the sign describing this elusive creature, and look past the sign for the Suspiciously Hollow Tree Roots.

As always, use extreme care removing and replacing these boxes! The trail is a loop, and you are more visible than you may realize!

Due to some pretty large shake-ups in my life, I will not be in residence at Glimmerglass Opera this summer. However, you may be able to connect with Knitica if you time your visit correctly.