When I heard I was going to see an opera, I was so excited. I had never seen one before, and I had no idea what to expect, if anything. I had gone to see musicals on Broadway before, but this was totally different. This is an opera, the gaudy, spectacular all-singing performance of a lifetime. Whenever my friends heard that I was going to see Carmen, they said, “ I’m so jealous.” In my head I was say that I hop I like it. I really had no idea what to expect. I am a music major, so of course, I felt a pressure that I needed to like it. How could I not like it and call myself a music major? But, I put all those feelings and pre-conceived notions behind me and treated Carmen as a first performance for me.
Immediately when I walked inside the opera house, I knew I was in for a great performance. The staircases all had the most elegant red carpeting that I had ever seen, the type you see in the movies, and the chandeliers were breathtaking. I said to myself, “ Was this real?” However, that feeling went for a vacation after I actually sat up top in the “common people” section. Wow, I was far away; even with my glasses on, I couldn’t see very much. When the curtains finally opened, I couldn’t even who was singing. This minute thing took away from the amazing aspect of Carmen.
However, it’s always the little things that make the show. Being a musician myself, I keenly focused on the sound of the orchestral instruments in the accompaniment. I closed my eyes at some points because I could barely see the people on stage anyways, because the sounds of the flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, french horns, trombones, the strings, drums, and piano were all breathtakingly harmonious. They filled the house with their music. While my eyes were closed, it was also easier for me to listen more closely to the distinct sounds and gorgeous vibrato of the opera singers. All I was thinking while hearing the singers was, “ Oh man, I wish I could sing like that.” The point of an opera, I think, is more to listen to the music being created, either sung or played, so there’s no problem with focusing on these strongly. When one goes to see an opera, one that has incredibly famous and distinct music like Carmen, one should pay more attention to the music rather than the scenery, because after all the whole point of an opera is that it is only singing. However, the scenery is very important to the opera, especially the gaudy and glamorous factor that is so attached to the art of opera. There’s no denying when the curtains opened up and the astonishing walls of the towns began spinning into place that my heart skipped a beat. The details on the set designs were so crisp (yes I could actually see them pretty well spite the location of my seat). The sets were amazing and it would be unfair to the visually-focused people to neglect them because they do play a huge role in the show.
After I got over that I couldn’t basically see anything, the opera was a great story of love, heartbreak, and murder. I have to say, at the end of the night, I was not as happy that I had seen an opera as I thought I was going to be. The plot was extremely hard to follow as we were constantly asking our classmates who was that or what just happened? Part of that was due to the location of our seats because we couldn’t see who was singing. It is the small details associated with Opera, at least at the Metropolitan Opera House that make Opera in way an art form that is losing viewers that doesn’t attract or connect with a lot of people. I mean, who wants to sit in the same for three hours while basically being able to see nothing. No one; some of my classmates even said, “ Oh great, I have to sit there for 3 hours. I’m going to fall asleep. I’m going to be so bored.” These details don’t help. Maybe if we were a little closer and we could see the actors’ faces, we would be happier to go. It’s almost as if people have to have an urgent impulse to go see an opera to go and see it. Even if they have an impulse to go and see it, they usually can’t because it costs about $400 to get a good seat from which you can see. In this way, opera is losing its support and taste of the people. But on the same subject, I don’t think it’s dying either. In my opinion, opera can only be enjoyed at it’s highest potential by the rich. But, it’s for everyone and should be seen by everyone, but realistically that’s not possible.
All this said and done, I would be a little skeptical of going back unless the circumstances were altered in my favor. Opera is an art form that you have to experience at its maximum pleasure or get nothing valuable from the performance. It’s all or nothing. The plots are confusing and it’s hard to see the actors on stage. The only thing, at least, that stood out for me, is the music. Even with just that, still leaves me on kind of a sour note with opera. I would go back only because I want to listen to the music again or try to get a better experience from the opera.
