The Arts in New York City
For me, the opera was always perceived as a gloomy place where fat women of Italian descent would sing in deep voices and extend a single syllable for over an hour…that is, until I saw the Metropolitan Opera’s production of L’Elisir d’Amore. Although the walk to the family circle was a mountain climb, the performance that followed would be indelible and enriching. The venue was stunning in every way, from the beautiful entrance surrounded by Lincoln Center and the gorgeous water fountain at the front, presenting the opera house with an ambience of prestige and sophistication, clearly defined by the clothing its visitors strutted in with. The seating and lighting in the theater was actually quite comfortable, and despite our location at a great height, we were able to witness the performance in its entirety and see exactly how every actor and actress presented himself or herself on the stage.
Our greatest disadvantage was not being able to witness the facial expressions and gestures on the performers, but that allowed our imagination to freely flow and depict the singers in our own image as we crafted our personal interpretations of their physical appearances. This also enabled us to focus more so on their voices in order to interpret their emotions and the meaning of the lyrics presented. Having very limited prior experience with opera singing, I unfortunately cannot provide the most accurate interpretation of the technical details of the opera singing within the performance, but I felt as though the singing talent of Anna Netrebko, the voice of Adina, Matthew Polenzani, the voice of Nemorino, and Mariusz Kwiecien, the voice of Sergeant Belcore, were all flawless and well-enunciated. Our seating actually allowed us to experience the magic of a live orchestra to the fullest as the musical notes reached beyond the pit where the orchestra was located and flowed upwards, enabling us to hear every note as clear as crystal. It was the awe-inspiring and transforming mesh of music, partnered with the beautiful opera singing, that defined L’Elisir d’Amore as the work of art I saw it to be.
Despite the enjoyment I received out of my experience at the opera, there were aspects of the actual contents of the opera that I was not nearly as thrilled with. The second half of the opera, although still engaging and entertaining, took a slower turn as I felt the plot line began to drag on. Of course, this does not have to do with the performance of the musicians nor the singers or actors, but rather with the plotline of the opera itself. I also felt as though the ending was very rushed and did not give Adina and Nemorino’s romance enough suspense, nor time, to truly flourish. The way in which Adina fell in love with Nemorino over a course of a few hours to almost overnight seemed very sloppy and poorly executed since it did not bridge the gap between the period of time in which she was distancing herself from him to her final realization that she loved him. Personally, I thought it was unbefitting that the romance would reach its climax and conclusion so quickly, the performers themselves executed their roles with precision and infused life into characters that were merely conceived on paper before they were finally brought to the big stage.
Overall, watching the Metropolitan Opera’s rendition of L’Elisir d’Amore was an amazing experience that fostered a further appreciation for the arts within me and inspired me to attend future performances of operas and even musicals.
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I completely agree with your initial comment about how this opera shattered you expectations. I always pictured opera singers as just being these really fat birds with oddly strong voices. No one but the most pretentious of people would want to listen to that right? Surprisingly, I thought the performance was actually enjoyable and had a bunch of genuinely funny moments. I also thought the ending was a bit rushed and Adina went from being indifferent to completely head-ever-heels in love way too quickly for it to be believable, but that same problem is found in nearly every romantic-comedy nowadays, and so I thought it was, at the least, excusable.
Your title is so cute!
Haha. I had assumed it was only me with the misconception that here at the opera, we would be subjected to a fat women shill a single note ear-piercingly for as long as possible. I truly could not find many flaws with the performance itself but I do accept the fact that the seating made it next to impossible to see their facial expressions. However, I find it hard to believe that one can put on a truly meaning expression while singing those notes. In any case, I feel that the emotion portrayed by the inflections, harshness, pitch etc. of the voices of the characters did more than enough justice to portraying what character was feeling what. I too felt that the plot was a little lacking, but I agree that Adina and Nemorino placed their own real life character into the play giving the plot much more life.