Category — Opera

I had some experience with opera before going to see Carmen at Lincoln Center, so I had some idea of what to expect.  However, when the show started and I saw the stage turn, my mind was blown right from the start by the amazing set the show had.  I can’t say that opera is one of my favorite forms of art, but I do enjoy listening to it every now and then.  It is very impressive to see the singers able to reach the back of the theatre with no microphones and only their voice. Actually the whole show was impressive; the set, voices, music, dancing, everything was spot on.

The only thing that I can say was not so great, was the length of the show.  It came out to a little over three hours, but it felt like seven.  I love going to the theatre and seeing shows, but this was just way to long. A part of me feels thats what our culture has turned story telling into.  T.V. shows are only in 30 min to one hour  intervals with breaks in between those!  At the Opera we just had one… It was just so different to see, the singers/actors explain their emotion.  It is usually just implied but most of the time, at the opera, they would sing on about it for quite some time.  They would even sing about an action before doing it! This was a main reason for it being quite long.

Regardless of the length, I did have a few favorite parts, well two to be exact.  Surprisingly, both of these parts were at the end of the show.  My first was when the overture music (which I’m in love with) was playing and the bull fighter was walking in.  The colors of costume, the roses falling, and the music just created such a great atmosphere I fell in love with.  My other favorite part was when the stage turned at the end and there was the imagery between the death of Carmen and the death of the bull.  Says so many things about the opera, some that we went over in class.

All in all I would probably go see another Opera if I had the opportunity.   It is defiantly something everyone should experience even if they come out not liking it.  It is just so different than what we see and hear every day that it will defiantly give you something to think about after you leave.  Next time, I would like to see one that maybe just a little bit shorter!

On my way to the opera I felt so overwhelmed. I kept thinking about how I have time to listen to a girl sing a song for four hours that I wouldn’t be able to understand, while I had so many midterms that week. I really was dreading the timing that we were going to that show and the length od it, too. As usual, when it comes to our trips, I was shocked. The hall that the opera was going to be in was beautiful. This time, thankfully, no one minded when I took photos. The place was extravagant. At first there was a curtain with this red light on it that confused me. Was the light part of the show or was there technical problems? But as the dancers began, my mindset of the opera changed. IT WAS A SHOW! I was so surprised, but I loved it. Even though I didn’t understand what the concept was behind the dancing, it seemed pretty cool to me. Then the story began. I loved the setting. I was actually pretty interested in the story. The subscripts made it feel like I was reading a book, while the show felt like I was watching a musical. But, things got in the way of my enjoyment. Like I said in class, I felt like it was a TV show with too many commercials. I’d have to wait so long for the next sentence to come on because they took so long to sing it. I know that’s kind of the point but it made me lose some interest in the story. Also, in order to see, I had to lean over so that the machine with the subscripts didn’t block my view. After a while, I was drained and just didn’t want to lean forward anymore. Also, it was so long and kind of late and I was exhausted in general. These factors led to me just chilling out for a lot of the opera, instead of being focused like I was at the start. Overall, the opera was an enjoyable experience, with just a few drawbacks.
But I always have fun spending time with my classmates, so that was great, too.

Before saying anything about the performance itself, I would just like to comment that I very much enjoyed the evening (and the one of the Ballet) especially because it was so fun to spend time together out of the classroom and all dressed up. So thank you to everyone for that!

Before I saw Carmen, I thought all operas were like this: huge stage, spotlight on the center, a woman in a puffy, old-fashioned gown stands there, arms flared dramatically, singing for three hours straight.  While I like music and singing, that didn’t sound like my idea of a good time.  Thankfully Carmen was not like that.  Now, in my mind, the Opera is the classier mother of Broadway shows.  First-off, I loved the scenery.  Even though we were very high and far away, the detail was evident.  The circular shape helped unify the scenes and focus your eyes on the center of what was going on.  Maybe it also helped the acoustics, which were incredible.  The music was beautiful.  It was dramatic, quiet, creepy, sad, happy, exciting, and deep.  It really filled the whole space and it was cool that we could see the orchestra.  While I am sure the people closer to the stage heard the voices louder, the fact that we heard the singing so clearly without the aide of microphones is amazing.  I never appreciated the power of the human voice so much before.

The storyline of Carmen was not extremely difficult to follow as I was scared it would be since the amount of important characters was limited and the dialogue was not very fast (seeing as they repeated every word about ten times).  I found that I was mostly bored during the first two acts because they were very drawn out and didn’t really have much action.  I liked the third and fourth much better because they were more fast-paced and showed more character development.  I went from absolutely hating Carmen in the first three acts (which led to a very comedic commentary throughout, thank you Jeanette for putting up with me), to understanding her in the last act. By the middle of the fourth act, I was sitting at the edge of my seat, not just because I couldn’t see otherwise because of my height, but also for excitement.  I think Carmen redeemed herself in dying for her freedom and I liked that in the end, I could finally feel some positive emotions towards the main character.

** About Opera vs. Carmen specifically. Are all operas like Carmen? Do they all portray women in such a way? And men? Are they all so overly dramatic? Are they all so long?

Prior to Thursday night I had thought that opera was simply a maximum of five performers singing (or yelling) at each other and possibly having some form of physical interaction. Consequently, I was dreading this opera. My only reassurance was the fact that I knew something would be entertaining with the Macaulay crew. Once the opera started, however, I was excited about it, too.

I enjoyed the storyline and the beautiful performance. After about fifteen minutes, though, I started to get bored by all of the repetitive lines. Norma posted that she found it frustrating to keep looking back and forth, from the stage to the screen, but I do not share the annoyance; I was able to look at the screen, then look at the stage until I got bored, and then return to the screen once more with the same lines before me: repetitive lines, which, in my opinion, did not convey deep emotion or anything intense that should give reason for such long repetitions.

I entertained myself throughout by commenting on the opera to those who sat next to me, and laughing from their responses to the opera, too. But in the end, I realized that the things we were laughing about really played a huge role in the opera as a whole. For example, we laughed at Carmen’s long dresses, because she seemed to not like them to reach past her knees; her long dress contributed to the death scene, as well as simply heightening her flirtatious behavior.

I really enjoyed the third and fourth acts. I felt that these two contained true passion and emotion, as opposed to the first two. I enjoyed the action and the complex plot, and I felt that these acts were not as dragged out and excessively lengthy. Mostly, in contrast to those of the first two acts, the “repetitive” opera, as I referred to it before, was not repetitive unreasonably. The opera here beautifully conveyed the emotion, and truly contributed to the feelings we were intended to feel.

Overall, I really appreciate the opera. I love analyzing stories and symbolism, and Carmen truly had what to analyze. Did I appreciate the three hours while I was sitting at the theater? Not particularly. Nevertheless, my experience as a whole was great, and I would consider sitting through another opera.

Like the ballet, this seemed to be a place for the high class who had time to relax. But as soon as Carmen started, I knew I was wrong. It was a place for everyone, a place for people to enjoy the operas of the world. It was a place where the cultures of multiple countries came together and became a part of American culture.

The story of Carmen was quite spectacular. As was the character development. Each person had a specific type of clothing that was chosen the show aspects of their role that wouldn’t be seen if they were wearing something else. The contrast of Carmen’s dress with the dresses of the cigarette girls was chosen to show that Carmen wasn’t just a pretty cigarette girl. She was the cigarette girl. She was the one that everyone wanted and the one that all the guys fell for. Even Don José, who was at first was in love with Michaela, fell for Carmen as soon as she met him. This made me slightly angry. How at first Don José proclaimed that he loved Michaela, he wouldn’t do anything against his mother’s wishes. But then as soon as Carmen comes, all those values go down the drain. I was told later that the red crevice that was present in the curtain was also present in the dress of Carmen. I don’t know if it carried a meaning but to me it felt as if Carmen was still there when the act was over and the curtain was closed. When the dancers came out of the curtain, it was like they came out of Carmen. It was as if they were what was inside of Carmen and they were waiting to come out. The dancers could have been the inner emotions of Carmen and they could have foretold what was going to happen in the life of Carmen.

Although I was too short for the seat I was sitting in, I really enjoyed the opera. It’s my second time attending an opera. Both times I found myself thinking that I wish I knew the language so I could just watch instead of going back and forth to reading the screen in front of me (which was especially annoying because I only needed my glasses for the stage, so handling them was quite bothersome when I wanted to read the words). However, I realized that most people in the theatre probably don’t understand the language (just my assumption), and thought that maybe it’s apart of the art… I don’t know.

Anyway… Regardless of those small complaints, I still enjoyed watching the opera. I like the story line. It’s pretty cool that the main character is a gypsy because it’s like the hipsters of our time (free love for everyone-peace). Their voices are amazing! The fact that they are able to sing the way they do is incredible!

Within the dialogue there were a bunch of references to previously said things. For example, in the very first scene with Micaela, the guards call her a bird that is flying away (out of the fence—like a cage)… They’re potential love interest just flew away. That was explained when Carmen started talking about Love as a bird that can’t be caught or caged. That was cool to notice.

Also, I don’t know how true or consistent this is, but Carmen first warned the men that if they love her, she won’t love them back (and beware). Don Jose didn’t love her back and that’s why she loved him (she loves the one who doesn’t say anything). Then he starts to voice his love for her and she starts to lose interest in him… She warned him!

Of course I have to mention the last act! The bull fight in the arena and the fight between Don Jose and Carmen were happening at the same time to play off of one another. It went even further to show that just as Carmen was killed, the bull was killed too… Or maybe Carmen was the bull. A wild thing that couldn’t be contained and was finally put to death. That was great!!

And shoutout to a lot of you—Alex and Ana Luiza in particular—for adding to the entertainment. 🙂

Okay so disclaimer ahead of time.

I find this song/music video to be beautiful due to the history i have with it. It is very beautiful in a comedic way, not so much in an emotionally moving sense. If you listen to this song on it’s own it however does sound beautiful (even though it is just repeating) but watching this video will also make you laugh, or feel creeped out…

Also this is an opera type piece so don’t listen to it if you don’t like it. I also forgot what the lyrics mean, but it has something to do with fire and ice… something along those lines… It’s in italian so maybe someone will know.

I happen to absolutely love art. Traditional art, that is. I love detailed works that show countless hours of effort, skill, and taste – classic paintings and sculptures. I like museums, but the one place I always avoid there is the Modern Art galleries. It is painfully frustrating for me to go from seeing gorgeous landscapes or lifelike portraits to standing before a large white canvas with a blue dot on it that the artist didn’t even deem important enough to center. It drives me crazy to think about what possessed someone to create such a work of “bla”, and what bothers me even more is thinking who in their right mind decided it was memorable or special enough to showcase so prominently in a museum.  When I am dragged/forced/guilted/tricked into visiting contemporary art exhibits, I usually find comfort (and joy) in sizing up each work and imagining the insanity of the artist and Museum curator who were responsible for bringing this dreadfully boring work of so-called art to the public attention.

Now, I am not going to tell you that after this “Night at the Museum” my views have completely been turned over, and I now love modern and traditional art with equal vigor. I’m sorry, but that bicycle hanging on the wall by the entrance the the gift shop still doesn’t look better than a Starry Night.  However, because of the task we were given, I had to give each painting, sculpture, or miniature monkey, a real chance. For that night, in my mind, all art was fair game.  And because of that night I now see art differently.  I look for meaning even when I don’t see it right away and search for ways to resolve my questions rather than dismissing the art altogether. (I have also stopped assuming all modern art dealers and curators are insane.)

What surprised me that night was that my favorite work of art from the whole three hours I spent there was pretty contradictory to my favored artistic style. It was a glass box that had inside it a straw fedora, an old-fashioned bicycle horn, some glass bottles, and a few other vintage accessories.  I don’t even remember the title or the artist but I loved it because when I saw it, I also saw a scene in my head. The setting:  The summer sun is bright. The sky is cloudless and breezy. A green meadow with tall grass that is dancing softly in the wind. A dirt road through it. The subject: A woman in a white sundress and straw hat rides her bicycle leisurely enough that she can simultaneously sip lemonade from a glass bottle. The bicycle has a horn but it sits unused because she is the only one on the road.  Peaceful. Quiet. Serene. I loved that the art spurred my imagination to spin a story and it led me further to my conclusion that art is not necessarily defined by effort, materials, or skill. Maybe it is truly defined not just by the thought process that preceded its creation, but also by the thought process that it inspires in the mind of the viewer.