Lights! Stairs! Glamorous people! Champagneee…oh the opera experience. I don’t know about you, but this wasn’t something I experience every day. And frankly, I was kind of torn between thoughts of excited “Oh how beautiful!” and cynical “Oh, look at me! *holds up one pinky*, I’m posh.” Being surrounded by the beautiful aesthetics of the Met Opera was a big part of the experience to me, besides Don Giovanni itself (which I’ll get to), and it set some of my thoughts on opera even before the performance. Come on, you really can’t ignore walking up an enormous staircase carpeted by red velvet. It makes you feel important. And all dressed up like we were that night, you feel like a somebody. Still though, the cynical me was thinking: “Look at me, I’m rich, I go to the opera” while realistic me was screaming “You’re a college student who wears sweatshirts and denim, calm down.”
But in all seriousness, isn’t that what the opera is supposed to be doing–appealing to the youth who wear sweatshirts and denim? How can the opera continue to exist if it doesn’t appeal to a future generation? I’d like to say that the opera does a so-so job in the attempted appeal. While the music isn’t quite what’s on the Billboard’s Top 100 Hits, and most young people are not listening to this type of music, I believe that those who are willing to be open to it recognize its incredibility. Yes, it is somewhat tiresome to listen (and in our case, also, read) to a person sing about one topic for 10 minutes, but on the other hand, it’s amazing that one person can sing for so long. And we’re not talking poor-quality, auto-tuned singing. This is 100% pure vocals, with a 100% pure musical accompaniment. If you mess up, well then it sucks to be you in front of that crowd of 1000 or so people (no big deal, whatever). I think recognizing this puts you in awe of the talent the singers possess, and makes the opera experience a more enjoyable one, one that appealed to me as a young viewer.
I also have something to say about the set and costume design in regards to a young audience appeal. While some may say that the style was old-fashioned, and therefore, not relatable, the style actually makes me feel a longing for the past. I’ll admit the “apartment-window-like” set (I really can’t think of another way to describe it) was kind of cheesy and looked like it was trying too hard to be old-fashioned. But I felt the costumes accurately reflected the clothing of the time period. You could clearly (take the word clearly figuratively here, please) see the distinctions between the elite’s fancy clothing and that of the common people. Call me weird, but I kind of wish I was around during the 18th century so I could wear clothes like that; I love the elegance. And towards the end when the woman whose father was killed was wearing black–that was an accurate depiction of the cultural practice of mourning. Excuse me for not remembering any of their names. While being so high up I could barely see their faces, and so remembering who was who became kind of a difficult task.
The cynical vs. elegant thoughts I mentioned in the beginning are how I relate the opera to our topic of New York City as a fantasy/nightmare. Some of us hated the performance, and oh what a nightmare it would be to return to the Metropolitan Opera. To return and be surrounded by all these elite people who spend $20 on a flute of champagne (or however much it was), who pay hundreds of dollars to sit in a private section and take in the performance. The old Jews have a saying of “Oy gevalt!”–Oh no! But on the other hand, such gorgeous snowflake-shaped lights, such an exquisite theater, such a view when you looked down from the lobby of the balcony. Specifically because I’m not part of the elite class did I look upon it as a fantasy. And listening to opera music–again, either “oh the horror!” or “what allure!” Me, I was feeling the allure that night. Let’s just pretend I never took a few short snoozes when I knew the actor was going to sing about a topic for the next ten minutes (give me a break, nobody told me to make sure I got enough hours of sleep the previous night).
