The Arts in New York City
When I got off the 1 train to get to the opera, I thought Don Giovanni would be some sort of class responsibility, like homework, or late night projects, but right when I got to the physical building of the Met, I was stunned at how gorgeous everything was. The sounds, the people, the place itself were all fused into one huge, elegant event. Despite the fact that the Macaulay building was only three blocks away, I have never been, or seen the Metropolitan Opera House. When I finally walked up the stairs (that lit up), it was a spectacular sight to see a huge building, made of mostly glass windows. Women dressed in black gowns, and men dressed in tuxedos and black bowties. It really was an elegant affair. When I actually got into the opera house, I saw that the whole place was covered in red carpet, and people were actually eating dinner there. It really showed a glimpse of the high society art events that many of us, students, were limited too, since this was a very expensive production. It really did open my eyes to the social etiquette of operas, and how classy they were. Before I even got into my seat and watched the opera, I had a great presentation of sophistication. I would have never been exposed to these events before, if it weren’t for this opera.
Once the opera started, I realized that there was one problem that I had to constantly faced while I watched. It was the subtitles. I had read the libretto before, but I couldn’t help but read the subtitles on the screen in front of me, just to understand everything that the characters said. This really distracted me from the opera, because it was either me watching them, and not understand exactly what they said, or it was me reading the subtitles, and not watching the opera. It was a constant shifting back and forth, and I found that distracting. Also, it was quite difficult to read the expressions on the actors’ faces. But what I found really stunning about the opera itself was the set design and the costume design. All the dresses were so beautifully made, and even though the same set was used throughout the acts, it was really entertaining to see them just rotate the set, and it could be used for a completely new scene. That was very clever. My favorite scene would have to be when Zerlina and Masetto were about to get married, and the whole town was dancing, because it really reminded me of the Broadway play, Beauty and the Beast, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was lively, and creative, which is a great contrast to the many dark, and gloomy scenes in the opera.
The final scenes of the opera would probably have to receive the most credit from me, because before I watched it, I wondered how the production would be able to make Don Giovanni be casted into hell. Since this was an opera, and not a Broadway play, special effects would not really be used as often. But it was amazing to see that the stage floor actually open up and fire was bursting through the cracks, while Don Giovanni slipped into hell. Though I was sitting not far from the last row, I could feel the bursts of heat from the fire. I wonder how hot it would have been for the people sitting in the first rows, or even the actors themselves. But they definitely did not disappoint me for this final scene!
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