Last night I had the opportunity to go to the Metropolitan Opera House to see the Italian opera La Boheme. Composed by Giacomo Puccini, the opera tells the beautiful and tragic love story between the poor but romantic artist Rodolfo and the beautiful but sick Mimi. The opera focuses on the themes of love and poverty which takes a different turn from traditional opera. Opera usually centers around characters of an upper class to reflect the wealthy audiences that could afford to attend opera performances. However La Boheme focuses on artists who struggle to make ends meet but do not give up on their creative talents. Watching the opera was such a beautiful and moving experience. The incredible talent of the professional singers combined with the powerful, tragic story made this a spectacular performance that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Walking into the opera house, I was stunned by its grandiose. From its velvet red seats to the large glistening chandeliers, the Metropolitan is one of the most impressive theaters that I have visited. The exquisite set designs and costumes created a vivid visual of 19thcentury Paris and I was very shocked how the stage was completely transformed every time a new act began. However, since we were sitting all the way in the back of the theater, it was quite difficult to distinguish the different characters. I was only able to recognize them by their costumes and their voices but I could not see any of their facial expressions. Even though I couldn’t see everything too well, the sound of the singers’ voices was still audible and strong. I was really impressed how the power of their voices combined with the acoustics of the theater allowed the sound to carry all the way to the back rows.
I really enjoyed watching the story of La Boheme and seeing the parallels between the classical opera and the contemporary movie, Rent. Although the movie is not a direct adaptation of the opera, it was inspired by the storyline of the poor artist and the sick girl and transformed into a modern city setting. I could see the same visual of the candle that was present in the opera reflected in the movie and how a single candle was able to bring two people together in a powerful love story. Even though I knew that in the opera Mimi would die in the final act and the story would end tragically, I was still moved by the ending scene. The dramatic music and the emotion with which the singers performed was absolutely stunning and made me very sad to see Mimi die in the very room she first met her love.
Seeing La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera House was an absolutely incredible experience. I am normally not a big fan of opera but I really enjoyed this story and the astounding talent of the singers made this an unforgettable performance. It is interesting to see how the themes of classical opera are just as present and relevant in our contemporary world as they were centuries ago.
