Yesterday, both seminar classes went to see the first opera of the year and for me, the first opera of my life. I didn’t expect it be such a big deal because I just considered it another performance at first but looking at the way people dressed, the size of the theater and the behavior exhibited, I knew that the opera was much more personal than it was a physical depiction of a story.

When I walked in, I was astonished at the number of tiers of flights there were. Even though I was amazed, I wondered how the acoustics would sound or if i’d even be able to get a proper view of the stage. But the acoustics were amazing and I gained an appreciation for the vocal capacity of the singers because even though I was so high up in the balcony, their voices had great clarity. The set was realistic and visually appealing which I suppose was used to not only amplify the scenery of the story but to make the opera that much more inciting for the audience to see. Through out the entire opera, I kept wondering how the singers were able to sing so powerfully and what seemed to be so effortlessly, for hours at a time. Then I realized that the intermissions were not only for the audience to get refreshments and walk around but for the singers to give their voice a rest for a while before they had to come back with the same intensity. The audience was a giant critic and they would have noticed if the voice sounded different so the performers have to give their best the entire time.

The story line was simple but its depiction was brilliant with the voice and the Asian/Chinese instruments combined. As I have learned in Dr.Kahan’s class, the instruments can be used as the supporting backbone or even have as much intensity as the voice, both of which were used generously in this opera.

This experience was certainly very different than any other stage performance I’ve ever seen and I loved it in its entirety.