The Politics of Art & Authenticity

Now that I’ve seen the Opera at the Met, I truly feel like I’m in New York.

Running from the cab, pass the beautiful fountains and the lights, walking up the red carpeted staircase all dressed up and in heels, I felt everything was so surreal. Those chandeliers… Oh how dangerously beautiful they were. I could never get bored just looking at those.

http://www.yatzer.com/Dazzling-Restoration-at-the-Metropolitan-Opera

http://www.flickr.com/photos/301202/3434698832/sizes/m/in/photostream/

As for the performance, their voices were so rich and so fit for their roles (especially, Carmen and Don José) I was literally drawn into the scene just with their voices. It was sort of unfortunate that we couldn’t really see the details of the performance because we were  so far away, I guess it was actually better to sit in the family circle for it allowed us to see every aspects of the theater. From the rest of the audience seats, the orchestra pit to the back of the stage, (oh, I almost forgot to mention the ‘golden ceiling’) it was really refreshing to have a whole view. I actually realized that the orchestra was facing the stage rather than the audience, watching the orchestra’s seating arrangements and that the singers/actors start acting from the back of the stage.

I also enjoyed the dance performance in between the acts. The light, and the dance all harmonized to fully portray what the acts are going to be about. And what I particularly found interesting was that the red light through the ripped curtains formed a shape of a dagger  and that the dancers were dancing on it seemed to foreshadow the peril of the relationship and the two lover’s tragic demise.

Lastly, I remember a child falling down only to be picked up by one of the adult performer and dropping his or her flag during the beginning of act 4,  I don’t know whether it was intentional or not but after having had the conversation with the professor that the children should have been sent home after act 1, I couldn’t stop smiling yet at the same time felt bad for the children for it was so late during the night and they should have been so tired by then.

As I came home, I almost passed out right away. As I woke up in the morning, I could not help myself from thinking that it all was a dream but then was able to realize that everything was, in fact, real as I found the pamphlet and the ticket lying on my desk.