Daily Archives: September 28, 2014

My Reaction to the Opera

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This was my first opera experience and as soon as I heard that it was going to be more than three hours long, my immediate reaction was: I don’t want to go. I had couple of experiences with plays and I did not like them. Therefore, I automatically assumed that opera is not going to be much different. In addition, I realized that our seats were all the way at the top, and being scared of heights, I thought I would not enjoy this opera.

First 20 minutes of the play was very slow. I do remember falling asleep couple of times. However, waking up to the sound of music was very calming and very peaceful, just like the professor said. It was a bother to pay attention to both the subtitles and the play simultaneously, however having a understanding of what is happening in the opera made me focus on the opera.

My favorite part of this opera was the humor. I never thought that I would laugh in an opera because I never thought it would be presented as a form of comedy.  I also loved the fact that the music never stopped. It played a great support in what was happening in the opera, such as building suspense. Overall, this experience was worth the time because I was able to encounter a form of art that I never saw.

 

Reaction to Le Nozze di Figaro

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Beautiful. High-class. Entertaining. Culture. Those are a few words that resonate within me when I think about my first night at the opera. Le Nozze di Figaro, a very entertaining comedy, was my first opera, and I saw it at the amazing Metropolitan Opera to boot. It was an incredible experience: meeting by the elegant water fountain, under the daze of twilight hours, everybody dressed in a their formal attire. It is definitely going to be a lifelong memory for me.

The opera itself was, overall, a captivating experience. Admittedly, there were a few moments where my mind drifted (although I did not fall asleep), but I feel that was due to the remarkable orchestra. The music was of such an elegant level that, at times, I forgot about the hilarious plot of the opera, and let my thoughts fuse with the music.

There were specific scenes, however, that truly grasped my attention. The opening scene, with the mind-boggling, rotating castle along with the very familiar classical tune captivated me, and was able to set the stage for what was to come. A few other memorable scenes were the scene in the bedroom, where Cherubino escapes through the window, and of course plot-twisting the scene where Marcellina and Bartolo are revealed to be Figaro’s parents.

My first night at the opera was a grand experience, and has opened my mind to attending future operas and other shows there at Lincoln Center.

Le Nozze di Figaro – Response

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Le Nozze di Figaro is fantastic, but highly confusing with everyone betraying each other, then everyone getting together again, then people switching roles, and heck, there was even a part where a woman wants to marry a man and then she finds out that he’s her son! I do have to agree that the opera was more than enjoyable despite the confusion.

After the opera, I came to a conclusion: We, the majority that haven’t been to an opera until then, did not get the full experience or appreciate the opera to its potential.
The opera has so many aspects of art, the set itself, the acting, the singing, the music and even the timing of lights and other stage props. I doubt that many of us noticed every single aspect at every single moment during the opera.

I know I didn’t. My friends say that I have something called art-ism. My friends joke around saying that its like autism, but with art rather than emotions. I agree with my friends, I know nothing of art. During the opera I was so focused on the storyline that I forgot to appreciate how concise the music was, how beautiful the set is, and how well the actors sang.
Then again, how could I know how well the music was, and how well the actors sang?
This was the first experience of an opera for me and I have no idea what does good music or good singing sounds like.
To a common man, student in our case, we have a general definition for good and bad sounding music.
To a person who is trained or professionally knows music, acting and singing, the definition of good and bad has sub-levels and different categories.
Under that logic, even if an actor sung an octave lower, the common man would not notice at all, but the professional would.
Thus, I feel like all of us, those who had their first experience with opera or know nothing related to singing, acting, and art itself, just couldn’t experience and appreciate the opera to its fullest.

Le Nozze di Figaro

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Le Nozze Di Figaro was much more interesting that I expected it to be. Going into my first opera experience, I was expecting a very boring experience. Moreover, I did not anticipate being able to understand the plot, but the subtitles were incredibly helpful. Instead of being completely lost throughout the performance, I was able to understand exactly what was going on. The opera was actually much funnier that I anticipated, with many well-timed jokes that made the experience much better than just seeing a typical tragedy or drama.

The most impressive part of the opera is that the singers were able to sing loud enough for everyone to clearly hear what they are saying, despite not using microphones. Sometimes the singers would be lying on the floor and still be able to project loud enough for everyone to hear them. They were also able to do this while performing their actions on stage. Moreover, they had to sing over the orchestra, which makes it much more impressive that everyone could understand them.

Overall, I would say that I enjoyed the experience, which is something I did not expect to happen going in.

The Opera

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If you had asked me four years ago, three years ago, two years, a list of all the places I thought I’d go to, the opera would never have been on that list. Going to the Opera this Thursday was an incredibly eye-opening and enjoyable experience.

I went in with the mindset that I’d be bored and I wouldn’t be able to understand anything. I was badly mistaken. The set up at the Met Opera was beautiful. The way the subtitles were shown allowed me to both witness the (incredible) performance on stage, as well as understand what was going on. The sets themselves were another thing of beauty and I was astonished when I saw how they worked.

Everyone involved in the production did an incredible job. The orchestra played very well and you could discern their different sounds. One of the most incredible aspects of the opera, as Professor Drabik talked about in class, was how the actors, unmiked, managed to project their voices to the entire theater over the sound of a full orchestra.

Now there’s the matter of the Opera itself: La Nozze De Figaro. I think I had a great time at the Opera mostly because of how entertaining the narrative was. It was humorous, both in performance and plot. The story, while confusing at times, kept the viewer’s attention.

The Opera was an enlightening experience and, now, if someone asked me where I would like to go, it will definitely be on the list.

All’opera con Figaro

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(Note: I’ve added a category for this opera)

Though I had to leave early, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to attend Le Nozze di Figaro–especially in such good company.

I am always struck by not only the splendor of opera, but at how often the story being told is relevant to a contemporary world. I am familiar with Beaumarchais’s plays, though I greatly prefer the operatic versions. The plays were written during a time of immense upheaval in France — the country was building towards revolution (indeed the last of the trilogy was written during the revolution that began in 1789). At this time, immense tension had built between the ruling nobility and the poor commoners. The Sun King (Louis XIV) had run the country financially into the ground and the people were starving.

Though not entirely the same, this tension between economic classes in France during the 1780s and 90s resonates for me with the current national conversation about the disappearing middle class and the increasing number of citizens living below the federal poverty level. I appreciate Mozart’s opera so much because the struggle between classes is clearly present in the tale.

I’m pleased I got to hear “Voi che sapete” during act II, and bummed I missed one of the other pieces I enjoy immensely:

I’ve already made plans to see Carmen next week with a friend. A fantastic opera if you have the chance to get affordable student tickets!