Thanks to the trains, I was running a little late for this performance, thanks MTA. The never-ending climb left me almost breathless by the time i reached the seats at the Family Circle. It was another hike up the steep steps to a seat. Since i wasn’t sitting in the seat printed on my ticket, i got to sit next to a really pretty girl. Unfortunately, she had a boyfriend :(. 

I had read a synopsis of the play before attending, so I had a pretty good overall idea it as well as the sequence of scenes. Despite this, I tried to read the subtitles as I watched the play. The problem was that it was extremely difficult to look at the back of someone else’s chair and watch the stage at the same time. Ten minutes into the play, I was getting dizzy from constantly looking back and forth and decided I needed another approach. Luckily, to my left was a guy who understood the play. He kept commenting to his friend sitting next to him. This helped me out a great deal, because every time he laughed, I knew to look at the subtitled box, and it was quite funny. I remember Prof. Minter asked us if we thought this was a comedy or a tragedy, and after seeing it, I believe it is a comedy.

I give a lot of credit to the people who played the roles. Not only is it unimaginable to me to remember the whole script in italian, but they sang with perfect pitch from beginning to end. It was also quite amazing to me to see the legend behind the play at the Met. Looking through the program, many CEO’s and stars have attended and supported this opera since its beginning, which I believe was 11 seasons ago.

I have to admit, that even though I am not a fan of the opera, I was absolutely surprised when the stage opened up and what appeared to be real flames marked the transition to hell. From reading the script, I would never have imagined that a modern day opera house would go to such lengths to signify such an event. It was absolutely impressive. 

I was quite intrigued at (what I believe to be) the wedding when the entertainment (violins and violas) was playing on stage, and completely independent from the music of the orchestra off-stage. It really added to the authenticity of the opera. I wonder if the people playing those instruments in the orchestra had gone onto the stage for that scene if these musicians were not part of the orchestra at all. Since I couldn’t see the orchestra from where I was sitting, I’ll never know. 

By the end of the opera, I left the same way I had arrived, breathless.