By Darren Panicali
Before I arrived on the site of the Metropolitan Opera, I wasn’t sure that I would particularly enjoy Cosi Fan Tutte – operas were never really my thing; it was something about the singing of words over-elegantly and over-lavishly rather than just spitting them out or at least toning the classiness down. But I have to say, getting to the place changed my mind and made me reconsider: My goodness, that beautiful fountain outside, serene yet beaming with life, along with the ornate inside of the opera house made it all seem so surreal and fancy, as if I was in for a real treat. And that I was!
Mark Ringer’s lecture is a necessity to mention here, as only through his commentary and guidance was I able to see through the fog of my own bias against opera to find the true beauty of it. What struck me most from what he said was the relationship among the higher vocals and the lower vocals. I was so intrigued by the opposite vocals within the established couples and then the aligned vocals in the couples created by the ruse of Don Alfonso. It was just such an interesting plot twist that the mismatched couples were perfectly in sync in terms of their voices. From that point on, I took a deep interest in the inner workings of opera. I was fascinated when Ringer mentioned that the music seemed to be misogynistic but was actually ironically also mocking men in a similar light as women as the male characters were developed. And I loved how he painted music to be an active member of the play with the power to evoke so many different and colorful emotions – it has “all the variety of life in it” in Ringer’s own words. During the actual opera itself, I would listen for the things he described, from the heartbeat-like staccato poundings to the smooth crescendos showing a shift in the mood, and I would never have perceived those things without Ringer’s help, so I am deeply grateful to him for helping me see something new and wonderful where once I believed there to only be boredom and drowsiness.
Let’s jump right into the opera now, shall we? I’d like to tackle the experience of hearing the performers’ voices without the aid of microphones, as that was definitely the first thing I noticed since we were instructed to observe it and I was actively looking for its significance right from the beginning. I realized that to sing opera is to display sheer power and grandeur. As I understand it, opera precedes technology. Not to say that singing and musicals and other performances did not do this as well, but I think opera enthusiasts and performers were proud of that – too proud (and perhaps too stubborn) to give in to the temptation of technology and enhanced hearing. There’s something surreal and previous about hearing a pure blast of energy emanating from a distant figure, almost as if the source is right next to you. And those vocalists must have been expertly trained, for the utter intensity of their lungs could shoot the music to the back and top of the room like a rocket to the moon – with the help of the amazing acoustics, of course. I think people believed it important to keep with custom and not lose something that sounds so good from years of practice in the tradition, much like wine tastes so good too with greater age. Is it a bad idea? I don’t think so. It’s kind of quaint and nice. And hey – it works, doesn’t it?
As for the specifics of Cosi Fan Tutte, I found some parts to be a little drawn out, but overall, I really enjoyed it. The characters were lively and played their roles spot-on – Despina was a veritable riot, – and all of the antics were just terrific. I applied everything I learned from Ringer to try to understand things better and ended up hearing so many different emotions as the story went on, and with the help of the translations I could better relate the raw emotions to the specific situations. The numerous backgrounds and stages were beautifully made, and that’s pretty significant coming from someone who used to design such things (haha!). I could really relate to those characters in each of the specific feelings they were portraying, from betrayal and disgust to joy and merriment, and it’s all because those men and women belting their hearts out did such an impressive job, especially with keeping their exhibiting brilliant vibrato consistent and smooth. It was just such a spectacular experience – one that I’ll not soon forget.
