I saw a lot of operas when I was younger. However, because I was so young, I don’t remember much about them except having an opportunity to dress up. I’m really happy that I had a chance to experience an Opera that I will finally remember.
One thing that I found extremely helpful was that we learned about Cosi Fan Tutte before actually seeing it. I thought it was interesting to learn about how Mozart used music to mimic the events going on in the play and the character’s emotions. I never realized how important the instrumental music is to the opera. Whenever I think of operas, I mostly think of the human voice as the main instrument. However, the class talk made me realize that the orchestral instruments also play a great role in telling the story and creating different atmospheres. Also, the talk in class brought up different issues and themes that the opera dealt with. This was helpful because it gave me something to consider while watching the events which occurred throughout the opera. I constantly found myself wondering whether the characters truly felt something or if they just believed they did.
Another thing that was really exciting, was the opportunity to attend the Q&A session with Danielle De Niese. It was amazing to see the stage and the dressing rooms. However, what I found even more amazing was how willing Danielle De Niese was to tell us about her experiences and answer any questions that people had. For some reason, I was always under the impression that opera singers would try to speak less or conserve their voice before a performance. However, Danielle De Niese never held back on any of her answers. Also, I found her story inspiring. I admire how she went after her dream job even thought it meant having to make some difficult sacrifices. In addition, she talked about how sometimes practicing the technical aspects of singing can get boring, but she does this anyway because she knows that in the end it will help her grow as a singer. I also admire this because people often want to do many things in life, but once they realize that these things actually require a lot of work, some of which is boring, they give up. I liked the amount of commitment that Danielle De Niese has for her job. For example, she said that she went to Italy for a few months to study Italian every day. I thought this was interesting because it shows how much she truly wants to do her best. Overall, the Q&A session made me realize the importance of hard work and how it can help a person achieve anything they want.
The environment of the Metropolitan Opera made me forget about everything else that was going on in my life. The building itself was beautiful. I could not stop starring at the chandelier, which as one of the workers mentioned, was made from Swarovski crystals. Also, it was nice that everyone was dressed up and sipping on Champagne. It reminded me of how, when I was younger, my mom used to buy me water in one of those little glasses to make me feel more like an adult. When I was younger, I felt overwhelmed by the environment of being at an opera house. This still has not changed. However, my experience with Cosi Fan Tutte was extremely different from my experiences with opera as a child.
Unlike before, I appreciated Mozart’s music and the way it changed throughout the performance. I payed closer attention to these changes because of the lesson in class the day before. I noticed how sometimes the music felt more sincere. Also, the power of the human voice is indescribable. All of the singers propelled their voices so well that if they did have microphones they would have sounded too loud. One reason that I was so amazed by their powerful singing was because I was in my high school chorus. At one point, the chorus consisted of almost 100 voices, yet we still needed to use microphones in order to be heard over the music. The ability of the singers to sing in a way which allows their voices to travel so far, made me realize how much training they must have gone through and the amount of technique they have had to learn. Also, even when the singers had to sing softer, I could still clearly hear their voices, even though they had to sing over the instrumental music of the orchestra and their voices had to travel over the rows of people sitting in front of us. Singing soft, while still being heard over so many people, must require a lot of skill.
In addition, I loved the different set designs! They were another aspect, in addition to the music and voices, that made the performance beautiful and enjoyable to watch.
