Although I expected the vocalists to be top notch - it was the sets that blew me away.
They were really just over the top.
There was light snow fall at the beginning of all the scenes - just beautiful.
Of the four lead roles Mimi was no doubt the stand out.
The crowd scene was so great.
But Puccini really knows how to bring you down in the end - I think Madame Butterfly was the
same. I would have preferred a more rousing ending. You are sitting there and all of a sudden
it's over - Mimi is lying there dead and that's it.
I like clapping for the curtain calls though - first you clap, then harder, then hardest - so you
kind of have to pace yourself so you can save the hardest clapping for the lead roles.
All in all - it was lots of fun and I'm sure I will go again. They are doing Candide - Leonard
Bernstein - in April so I might go to that since I don't know anything about it but the huge
poster showed the one guy having a false nose.
~~~
you know if i had a million dollars i'd give it all to the MAC.
30 comments:
The Opera was great! Now I have heard it all.
There is nothing more delightful than learning of a new Opera in town, and that I am going to miss it.
But if Mimi didn't die, it wouldn't all be so tragic!
So is a life bohemie "well lived"? You decide.
And John, we can't all be opera snobs. Someone has to assume the role of the pityable common masses... so I guess YOU'RE IT! Bwah!
John - I really can't believe you just said that.
There wasn't a moment in the three hours that I didn't think that I was in Heaven. All evening I just marveled at being able to hear these magnificant people - not speaking one word - but every thing was set to music.
To me Opera is the very highest form of the Arts - and frankly it gave me a huge thrill. When they started I almost cried out of the pure joy of once again being exposed to the best in life.
And I'm quite sure these people don't abuse teenage boys on the side.
Get a life - JM - I'll bet you even watch the Super Bowl.
Oh and by the way thanks for your comment and do come back soon.
AM - 'but if Mimi didn't die then it wouldn't be so tragic'
Really Abso - there's a statement of unabashed simplicity if I ever heard one.
The ending of La Boheme is like
going to see Mt. Rushmore and the fog is so thick you saw nothing.
Talk about a let down.
And can you believe I had anticipated seeing Mt. St Helens - same thing. It was like she had never had the side of the mountain blown away in 1980.
Same with La Boheme - sure I knew Mimi was going to die - but with such a downer ending there was no cause to cheer and jump to your feet at the end. Why only about
five diehard opera fanse - including me - gave them a standing ovation. The others were
too depressed.
And as far as if the life of a Bohemian artist is worth it - I've never been one but I have painted and before I do an abstract I sit there and get really despondent - then I jump up and do the painting.
Before we moved my studio was in the basement with the sump pump behind me and the furnace and hot water in front.
It was great for setting the mood.
Of course unlike van Gogh - I had a flat screen tv for watching Lost and a little refrigerator for water bottles.
Still - It was Bohemian in its own way.
I cannot imagine not being Creative.
It has to be the best thing one can be in this world of cr*p. I have never been able to get really excited about things like science, math or technology. But give me a ticket to the Opera and my Heart sings right along - especially during the thrill of hearing a familiar aria. It's almost as good as waving my litte 9/11 flag while Lee Greenwood sings God Bless the USA.
I can't imagine leaving my money to PETA when I could leave it to benefit the Arts. I mean how much thrill is there watching those dogs do their thing on UTube. Athough the one on the surfboard blew me away.
Being Italian myself, I am a BIG fan of the Opera. My wife and I see La Boheme at the Met whenever they do it.
We must have seen it about 12 times at least.
And you are absolutely right, if Mimi didn't die, then 3 arias would be lost. And 3 of the very best ones, like "Si mi chiamano Mimi", and especially "Donde lieta usci"
Mal - I can't believe you've been to the Met.
I would love for you and your wife to come here - to see how good Opera at the MAC is.
You are right - Mal - about the arias. When Mimi sang 'Mi Chiamano Mimi' I could have cried.
The soprano is the key role in La Boheme.
I sat there thinking - there is something about sitting there for three hours and listening to them sing instead of talking. It's kind of like abstract painting.
it doesn't get much bettter than that
Mal - Have you seen Candide?
I'm planning to get a ticket for it in April. This time a seat in the 5th row instead of the 12th.
sue hanes said...
Mal - I can't believe you've been to the Met.
Why not?
I've been going there for at lest 10 yesrs, I buy what they call a "Trio" 3 operas in the same season, We sit in the Grand Tier and have dinner at the Grand Tier Restaurant.
Conservatives can have culture also you know.
Mal - What we have here is a failure to communicate.
My comment - I can't believe you've been to the Met - meant that I was in awe that you - one of my commenters - had actually been to a place I am in awe of.
See what I mean? You took it to be a putdown when it was actually a compliment.
sue hanes said...
"See what I mean? You took it to be a putdown when it was actually a compliment."
No Sue I didn't take it as a put down, but I was surprised that you thought it was so unusual .
And my comment was also meant to be tongue in cheek. So don't take it so seriously.
Sue, you say "I sat there thinking - there is something about sitting there for three hours and listening to them sing instead of talking. It's kind of like abstract painting."
I think that's really very true, an extremely interesting observation.
I'm so glad you got SNOW; isn't it just beautiful?
Malcontent, I'd not have thought you'd be an opera fan; I like that! La Boheme has SUCH beautiful arias ...
As I've said before to Sue, my wonderful two cats were named Marcello and Musetta.
I have to tell you why it wasn't Rudolfo and Mimi (I love the name Rudolfo)....When I got the two kitties, the little girl kitty was just a little sickly and I swear I didn't want to name her Mimi for that reason..not to tempt fate!
My voice coach suggested the other two names and that was it...they were perfect names for them anyway!
Mimi became perfectly healthy and outlived her brother (my 'soul cat') by about four years...till she was 21.
When they were kittens and I was studying opera (I'm a jazz singer, basically and that was done for strength), i'd be vocalizing and Marcello would grumble and run quickly upstairs...Musetta would literally climb up my jeans so she could get as close to my lips as possible. When my wonderful Marcello did his thing, I'd yell up the stairs "Nobody likes a CRITIC!" :-)
I'd take her in my arms and sing "Quando Me'n Vo" to her...
I love that opera......Sue, I'm SO glad you enjoyed it, I really am.
Make sure you read CANDIDE's libretto before you go..it really helps to know the story first...at least it helps me.
Z - It must have been hard to lose Marcello and Musetta. Those two characters were great last night.
I literally know nothing about Candide - so I'm going to study up on it. I plan to get my ticket maybe even today online.
Mal - But I do take everything seriously.
That's why it has been so hard for me to get into blogging - but I'm catching on now.
I've been to NYC a few times - we went to some plays and walked around. It's an exciting place.
Well then as an Opera lover, you should have gone to the Met. I know that it's very expensive, but these no other experience like it.
The one thing that I didn't care for was that 2 years ago they installed translation boxes on the front of everyone's seats and they are very distracting. It's like seeing tittles on the screen of a foreign movie.
Mal - I paid $47 for my ticket - twelveth row from the front - how much did you pay and where do you usually sit at the Met?
At the MAC they have the English subtitles at the very top of the stage. If you aren't interested they really aren't distracting.
I think that is better than on the back of the seats.
But I liked having them up there to check out - in case I wasn't sure what was going on. But I found that I used them very little.
We lived near D.C. for three years and when my husband would take the girls ice skating on the Mall I would go to the Art Museum.
I could literally live in an Art Museum.
Maybe alternate between Opera and Art Museums for the rest of my life.
sue hanes said...
Mal - I paid $47 for my ticket - twelveth row from the front - how much did you pay and where do you usually sit at the Met?
We sit in the Grand Tier. About $350.00 per seat...
(I guess we are part of the ONE percent)
John - I really can't believe you just said that.
There wasn't a moment in the three hours that I didn't think that I was in Heaven.
As I understand things, heaven is much like Opera. I agree. We all dancing at the foot of God’s throne with obnoxious music, sometimes in tongues only He understands.
The problem is, Heaven sounds very unpleasant to me.
To me Opera is the very highest form of the Arts
I tend to agree with this also. I am not saying Opera is not good. It is just painful, like classical music. Mark Twain said “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds,” and I completely agree with this sentiment. I wanted to be a classical pianist. I loved the strategy, though not the end product. It turns out I have no talent.
Get a life - JM - I'll bet you even watch the Super Bowl.
Were I to get a life, then I may watch the Super Bowl. Thus far, I have never seen one.
JM - 'heaven sounds very unpleasant to me'
Well John - that's because you haven't signed up for my Heaven.
I guarantee you we won't be dancing at the foot of God's Throne - why? Because God will be dancing right along with us - in the language each of us are speaking.
~~~
I wanted to be a classical pianist too - John. I still want to play the Rach 3 at Caregie Hall. But that just ain't gonna happen.
But anyone who wants to be a classical pianist has to have some talent. I do not have the talent of a classical pianist - so I am finding out where my real talent lies.
You have to be willing to let go of that which will never be acheived - and go after something that is in reach.
You keep working at it until each day it becomes more of a reality.
~~~
The problem with the Super Bowl is that it is about sports.
Penn State is about sports and look what happened there.
Sports needs to take a good look at itself and make a few changes.
~~~
As for me - I like Opera.
and art
Yes John - Opera is about pain.
and suffering.
~~~
But suffering is a good thing because - unlike hazing - suffering forms character.
We each suffer in our own way.
I have learned to embrace suffering - but I keep it in its place - like crying myself to sleep.
Now I look forward to suffering as much as I look forward to -
a lot of things.
Once you have suffered - and for me suffering is an inward thing - and survived - then you realize that you can survive more suffering - until it becomes part of your life.
I once read that former President Richard M. Nixon said:
'You can't know what it means to be on the highest mountain until you also have been in the deepest valley.'
And who would know that better than Richard Nixon.
Emily Dickinson seemed to know as well as Nixon:
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory
As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!
~ Emily Dickinson
John - One thing about Emily Dickinson is that I understand enough of her poetry that when I don't understand one of her poems I know that I should study it until I do.
Here is my response to that poem:
There is a quote by Oscar Wilde that I tried to google but can't
find it.
Oscar Wilde is so full of wisdom that he blows me away. I once googled him and that really blew me away.
He was one wild and crazy guy.
A wild and crazy guy that I would have liked to meet.
I would have liked to give him a hug and repeat over and over - 'it's not your fault, it's not your fault, it's not your fault.'
This is what the quote was that I can't remember what the exact words were:
A true artist - meaning Creative not necessarily painting pictures -cannot be a true artist if his only goal is to be recognized in his lifetime.
Get it?
Emily Dickinsen was not recognized as a great and beloved poet in her lifetime. But she continued to write poems and put them in her dresser drawer - to be found by her sister after ED's death.
~~~
'success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed'
In my mind she won.
She must have 'just known' that her poems were good. But she wrote them without recognition because they were given to her.
Some acheive success in their lifetime - but it is to artist
like Vincent van Gogh - who never did - that we owe our deepest gratitude and our hearts - for his suffering in the face of his Creativity.
Look at his work.
~~~
but then i'm rambling john
Or could this be about Faith?
Emily Dickinson's life story is one of the things I like about her.
By the way, I am also a fan of Oscar Wilde, by pure coincidence. I recently quoted him in one of my posts:
When in love one begins by deceiving oneself and ends by deceiving others.
John - I do not entirely like ED's life story.
She was in love two different times and both times she was denied.
Emily Dickinson had an inner wisdom about life that she expressed through her poetry.
She was reclusive - and some Force kept her going.
I absolutely love Emily Dickinsen's poetry.
~~~
'when in love one begins by deceiving oneself and end by
deceiving others,'
I don't like that quote.
OW said a lot of good things so why did you pick that one.
Sue,
I did not say I wished to have ED's life. I said I like her story.
I chose that Oscar Wilde quote because it was the one that fit what I was doing.
I wrote an essay titled "The Anatomy of Love."
Oscar Wilde was a keen observer and often cynical.
You don't have to agree with what he said in order to appreciate it as a thought-provoking intellectual statement.
By the way, that is my favorite Oscar Wilde quote, by coincidence.
So, you don't like that quote and you don't care for ED's story.
Shall I tell you about butterflies and flowers and how they jovially compete to see who is most beautiful, but in the end find that the beauty of each is immeasurably vast?
John - Emily Dickinson had a deep, beautiful soul. If she had been allowed to love either of the two men that she loved then perhaps we might never have had her poetry - which is invaluable. My life has been forever impacted by her words.
~~~
I like all of Oscar Wilde's quotes - that particular one
came at me at a bad time.
~~~
And I like your imput here - John.
So if I ever seem testy believe me it is not about you - but about me.
And please - more on the butterflies and flowers.
~~~
Have you ever read Renascence by Edna St. Vincent Millay, John?
Although ED is my favortie poet - that is my favorite poem.
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