Carmen, oh Carmen. Where to begin!
In my little black dress and blackberry lipstick, I was so excited to be seeing an opera. But nothing could prepare me for what I saw at the Met Tuesday night. I was expecting something pretty or fancy, but my expectations were shattered. What I saw was much more than what could be considered fancy or pretty; it was luxurious. I had never seen a carpet so clean in my life! Not to mention the fountain and the chandeliers, oh the chandeliers! But the part that made feel like true royalty was the orchestra. I found myself using my overpriced rented binoculars just to watch the flutists almost more than the actual opera! But that’s not to say the opera itself was any less wonderful. I really enjoyed the plot and admired Carmen’s sexiness. I’m honestly a little mystified at how perfect everything seemed to fit.
The extravagance of the Met coupled with have never seeing an opera before, filled me with emotion. I’m sure to the trained ear, and those not sitting in the family section, there were plenty mistakes in Carmen’s singing or the acting. But to me, I had never seen something more beautiful and perfect.
I would definitely go to another opera again anytime. I had so much fun, even if I didn’t really understand all that was going on. But hopefully, when my best friend becomes a professional flutist, I will get VIP tickets to all the operas shown at the Met; and I won’t get a headache from using the rented binoculars.
As for opera being a dying art form, I disagree. I acknowledge that its popularity has declined over the years but with so many people in our world, there has to be someone who won’t forget opera when everyone else seems that they have. I find it hard to believe that opera will just eventually disappear one day. It is too admired and too valued by so many people to be forgotten. And as for opera only being for a section or a certain class of people, I can’t disagree any more with that. I can’t be the only young, relatively educated, middle class woman out there in the world who felt like a princess at the opera. It’s like saying, “only little children like peanut butter.” – it’s absurd to ascribe a whole genre of entertainment, or anything for that matter, to a single type of people, no matter how large or how small.
But I would like to say that I wish people at the opera were more welcoming to others. More specifically – the older generation. Trust me, I get it, I get a little testy too when people say they’ve started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer because its “my thing.” But I wouldn’t discourage people from enjoying the series like I do. My point is that I think the older generation shouldn’t feel that the opera is only “their thing.” Granted, the majority probably don’t feel this way; but to the gentleman sitting behind us, our leaning forward was not an excuse to almost dislocate my friend’s shoulder with your rough tapping.
