English vs. Original Language
As it was for many of us, this opera was the first we were exposed to and I truthfully was not expecting the great caliber of acting and singing that The Marriage of Figaro presented. Upon entering the Met, I was very enthusiastic to see my first opera but in the back of my mind I kept worrying about the difficulty that I would have with understanding the plot itself. Unfortunately, my worries were the cause of my discomfort throughout much of the opera. Personally, I had trouble with the whole conundrum of reading the text then averting my eyes to the stage. I felt that since I wasn’t understanding a word the characters said that I couldn’t help but read the text which cost me the valuable time that I could’ve spent focusing solely on the actions, and I kept going back and forth with focusing solely on either only the acting on-stage or the words themselves. This trouble with understanding the actions without having knowledge of what exactly was being said could be a direct result of my slight obsession to know everything that is being said because otherwise I feel lost when I do not know exactly who, or what is being discussed. For these reasons, I feel that opera is not entirely “like film, a ‘universal language’” because I think that for some people there is an equal importance in the text being said and the actions on-stage. When answering the question about opera delivering its message not only as a story-line, I would, without a doubt, have to agree because I did notice that much of the message between all of the characters was understood via their elaborate actions and nuances in voice that made the viewer all the more attune to these non-written clues. What impressed me off the bat was the extreme talent of the characters’ acting, especially that of the actress who played Cherubino. I honestly only slightly liked Cherubino’s character from reading the synopsis, but I ended up loving him throughout and by the end of the opera. My favorite moments included when Cherubino acted “forward” with the countess before he was being dressed up as a girl. I also greatly enjoyed his mannerisms and demeanor, which both reminded me so much of the average lover-boy type attitudes that young boys try to pull off. Also, I couldn’t help but giggle uncontrollably at how well the actress managed to portray this young lad who was always falling in love with any female he saw but who still carried around a torch for the beautiful Countess. In addition, I thought the scenery was incredibly well imagined and displayed because it offered a certain proper atmosphere for this opera that certainly appealed to many viewers. Moreover, the incredible singing voices of each character, especially that of Susanna and the Countess, really gave me chills because I have never been used to hearing such high vocals. I think that this is indeed evidence of the great control they must have, because if you think about it, the are raising their voices without outright yelling at all, and that to me was just an incredible aspect of this experience. To end, I learned a useful lesson from this experience, which is that my next opera would either definitely have to be in the English language, or I have to adjust my priorities and allow myself to focus on the beauty of the language being sung and the actions occurring on-stage rather than on solely the words themselves. Because I know that even though I was distracted by the text, I greatly enjoyed hearing the characters sing in a language other than English, which just made the whole experience even more authentic and intense for me.