Opera: Survival of Endurance
A couple of weeks before attending “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera House on November 5, 2007, our class was constantly reminded of the great opportunity we were given, after all Angelo Brown was playing the protagonist, Aida, and to brace ourselves for the near four hour duration of the opera as well. Maybe the latter was not something to be taken so lightly because nearly four hours in the night with constant opera singing, is not something we are innately trained to withstand. This is not to say that there wasn’t great talent in that show, which was clearly not the case.
The lavish clothing of the singers was not something to ignore. Glittering and shimmering under the bright lights of the set, maybe the glimpses of the clothes kept one’s eyes from fully shutting after a good thirty minutes had past bye. The set, with statues and pyramid-like infrastructures captured the ancient Egyptian aura. It was something breath-taking beautiful that one’s eyes need not be forced open. The horses galloping on stage in the “Triumphant scene” knocked the sleep out of even the most sleep-deprived students. However, the designing and staging can only do so much for three hours. Four hours can seem like an eternity when accompanied by the long notes of Opera singers. The beauty of the Opera is surely extended beyond the physical set-up of the stage and deeply lies at the singing and acting of the Opera singers. It’s admirable to hear the intensity-filled notes that require undoubtedly more energy than that simply generated by the vocal chords but to seem to merely slip off the mouths of the singers. The sound is beautiful, but it begins to turn into a lullaby; an intense lullaby.
“Don’t eat turkey,” or pasta, Angela Brown had jocundly advised, explaining to us how these foods tend to make a person less alert. I realized, that Opera requires strong endurance and alertness. One can’t simply rely on the stylishness of the stage or elaborate clothing styles to keep one alert. Rather, one must practice to patiently allow the singing to settle in the conscious as well. Next time, I will not have pasta.