The Necessities of Enjoying an Opera
The ambiance of the opera had intrigued me even before it began. It’ always fun to dress up nice, see the interior of the Metropolitan Opera House, take pictures by the waterfall, and simply surround yourself my the beau monde of society. It’s fun being polite to all the ushers and just having a good time.
The opera itself was a challenge to follow. Early on, I caught on to the pattern of the lyrics. Like in standard music we’re used to, there is a choral part that repeats itself. This choral part reflects the feelings of the characters, and pauses the storyline. This contributes to the lengthy three and a half hours that the opera took to perform. If the plot was progressing constantly without any pauses, without any repetition, it would go a lot quicker. However, would the plot of the opera be understood if it was done in such a short amount of time? By taking the time to incorporate the theatrical aspects of the play along with musical choral aspects, it adds to the general public’s understanding of the play. I also found that the English translations on the screen helped in understanding the play. All of these aspects were essential in my enjoyment of the opera; without them, without understanding what was going on, it would have been hard for me to get through the play.
Finally, I was surprised by transgressions of the opera. I saw a lot of things that I had not expected to see in an opera, especially one that originated in the nineteenth century. One instance that really shocked me occurred in the first act, when Susanna and Figaro were arguing. Figaro was lying on a bench and they were arguing, and in the end, Susanna “won” the argument by pushing Figaro off the bench so he fell on the ground in embarrassment. It was interesting to see a woman pushing a man to the ground in an opera, when clearly at the time, male chauvinism was the way of the world.
-Sean C.