As of a few weeks ago, I was not looking forward to the Opera. I understood it as a cultural privilege but I viewed it as a chore. Now I can honestly say that I really enjoyed Cosi Fan Tutte, much to my surprise, and I would be very interested in attending another performance at Lincoln Center.
When Professor Jablonka’s in-class response to my question of whether the actors would be mic’d was “that would be heresy!” I thought she was being perhaps a bit melodramatic. After viewing the opera I now understand why her response was so adamant. Listening to a voice free of any sort of electronic aid is very different than listening to a traditional microphoned one. Aside from being in awe at the ability the singers had to make their voices travel, I believe that being able to listen to a purely human noise undiminished by the distortions inevitable with microphones greatly enhanced my listening experience. I would say it was somewhat analogous to when a person first is exposed to high-quality audio gear after using apple store earbuds. I think this direct aural contact is a major part of why I enjoyed Cosi Fan Tutte after not enjoying any of the Opera recordings I had listened to previously.
I was actually disappointed that I had not been able to attend the Danielle DeNeise tour session, not only because I heard that they got to see the sets up close (the sets were amazing, but I’ll go into that later) but because I think it would have been interesting to hear DeNeise talk, since Desdemona was by far my favorite character. In a comic-tragedy so ridiculous I could look at it only as a farce (I’m not sure if it was meant o be, I think it may have been?) being funny was an important piece fo the Opera. I had not expected it to be funny, and was pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing at certain points in the performance. I liked Despina the best because I found her lines most amusing, and I thought the actress did a great job in emphasizing the hilariousness of her character. My favorite scenes were not so much the ones with Fiordiligi and Dorabella declaring their love, but the ones with Despina trying to convince them to shop around. I especially enjoyed the scene with Despina in disguise as the magnetic doctor.
I really loved the sets. I know that the sets ought to be great, considering how much money the Met has, but I was nonetheless impressed by them. I especially like how the hills and trees were not flat but were 3-dimensional, as it gave the appearance of the set expanding beyond our view and ergo, making it seems as thought the characters existed in a world realer than just a stage. This same nod to multidimensionality also goes to the buildings, which were constructed as corners as opposed to flat backgrounds.
All in all, I found Cosi Fan Tutte fantastic , staying awake to witness it in it’s entirety despite my operating on 4 hours of sleep. It was a fantastic experience both as an audiophile and as a lover of theatre, and if I had enormous amounts of money at my disposal I would surely go again (maybe someday, if I become inordinately successful).
