Mardi Gras

Last night at the Met I saw Lucia di Lammermoor, my favorite so far this season.  I enjoyed the staging,     singing, and performances.  There were two stand outs: Natalie Dessay as Lucia and Joseph Calleja as Edgardo.  Dottie and Kathy remarked on how much they enjoyed the acting.  How expressively Ms. Dessay rendered her veil and then cradled it as though it was her child.  There were three remarkable pieces of music: the sextet in Act II  "Chi mi frena in tal momento", Lucia's  mad scene  "Ardon gl'incensi", and Edgardo"s "Tu che a Dio".       
On the negative: why start at 8:30 and then run on until after midnight.  Some people left after the mad scene and missed Edgardo's "Tu che a Dio".
From what I'm reading:      
"The good life is the life of inner serenity" Epictetus