I had the privilege to see Suor Angelica earlier tonight performed in LeFrak Concert Hall, and I am happy to say that I went. While Don Giovani was fine and all, it was a bit too long for my attention span. This opera was a much shorter piece of opera where I could better appreciate (and stay awake for) the different parts and aspects that were involved. ( I didn’t care for the first opera performed, Debussy’s “La Damoiselle Elue”. The theme of a departed woman in Heaven calling for her husband seemed very remote to me. I could care less. The music was pretty good, though.)
For starters, the stage setup was very different as compared to the Metropolitan Opera. Instead of being in a pit, the orchestra played right onstage behind the opera singers (though I think this was more due to lack of space). The lighting system was very good. It focused attention on the right people at just the right moments. An example that jumps immediately to my mind is at the end when she sees her son taking her to Heaven, with the lights both on her and her son (very emotional and heavy). Additionally, there was almost no scenery except for the fountain with the statue of the Virgin Mary whom all the nuns worshiped and revered (she was played by an actual person and managed to stay remarkably still the whole time until she came alive at the end).
Best of all, I was better able to appreciate the good music that the orchestra played so well. The music was very good at capturing the different moods and emotions in the opera. I liked Sister Angelica’s lament over her son; with the musical background, it was very moving. Her reunion with her son in Heaven is another moment that I found very moving, helped immensely by the music. I also liked how the nuns went to the upper floor of the concert hall and sang as an accompaniment.
It was a very pleasurable piece to listen to.
And to top it all off, Monica Martin played in the Violin I section of the orchestra. Go Monica!
It would be good if you could find a way to actually react to the content of the opera, rather than just comment on the skill of the student playing the statue. The theme of Suor Angelica, for example is one of redemption. This is a universal theme, given shape and life in the individual story of this particular situation. (Interesting that a statue comes alive to grant redemption, just as a statue came to life in Don Giovanni to mete out the punishment. Each was justly deserved.) A receptive student of the arts looks to make connections between the art and the world.
Of course, the key component of any opera is the content of the opera itself, the storyline, and the themes and ideas it puts forth. Suor Angelica’s content is best analyzed when it is compared to Don Giovani. The primary theme in Suor Angelica, as Professor Smaldone has mentioned, is redemption. Sister Angelica repents for her sin sincerely, and ultimately is welcomed into Heaven with open arms. Don Giovani, in stark contrast, is punished and dragged into hell in the end for specifically not repenting or feeling any remorse for his many evil sins.
Despite the contrast of the two operas, there are a surprising many similarities. As Professor Smaldone has said, a statue in each opera comes alive and gives the main character what they deserve. Another interesting similarity is that both Sister Angelica’s and Don Giovani’s sins are sexual sins. Both operas also emphasize a religious aspect as well, emphasizing that Heaven interacts in people’s lives, and rewards or punishes them based on their actions and thoughts.