It's spring break--but is it spring?
Today was my last class for over a week. Now I'm on spring break. Interesting that I had to wear my winter coat, a scarf and woolen slacks. It was cold this morning, sunny, but cold--like in the 20's.
Now for the more interesting stuff. Last Saturday I saw Madame Butterfly for the second time this season. This time it was in a movie theater, and the Met was putting it on. I enjoyed the Lyric Opera performance, which was live, but this one, live and in HD had a lot going for it. First of all, the big screen. Normally in an opera house, the stage is about the size of a paperback book, depending on how expensive your seats are. You have to use binoculars to see anything reasonably like a face.
We sat in the last row in the movie theater, and the view was spectacular. Every expression, every movement was out there. You could even see the expressions on the faces of the people who manipulated the puppets on stage--and they were wearing black veils.
The Met uses better translations for their subtitles, which are more natural and not stilted like the subtitles I have seen in Chicago. Accounting for the Italian-English cognates, the opera was easy to follow.
The stage set was bare minimum. A few chairs, some paper screens and a lot of bright light was it. It worked very well.
Butterfly was played by Patricia Racette, who also starred at the Lyric. Wonderful singing was heard form all the principal characters.
The Met is putting on two more operas this season--La Sononambula and La Cenorentola. Go to see one. You won't be sorry. Just make sure that you buy your tickets in advance--the operas usually sell out.
Now for the more interesting stuff. Last Saturday I saw Madame Butterfly for the second time this season. This time it was in a movie theater, and the Met was putting it on. I enjoyed the Lyric Opera performance, which was live, but this one, live and in HD had a lot going for it. First of all, the big screen. Normally in an opera house, the stage is about the size of a paperback book, depending on how expensive your seats are. You have to use binoculars to see anything reasonably like a face.
We sat in the last row in the movie theater, and the view was spectacular. Every expression, every movement was out there. You could even see the expressions on the faces of the people who manipulated the puppets on stage--and they were wearing black veils.
The Met uses better translations for their subtitles, which are more natural and not stilted like the subtitles I have seen in Chicago. Accounting for the Italian-English cognates, the opera was easy to follow.
The stage set was bare minimum. A few chairs, some paper screens and a lot of bright light was it. It worked very well.
Butterfly was played by Patricia Racette, who also starred at the Lyric. Wonderful singing was heard form all the principal characters.
The Met is putting on two more operas this season--La Sononambula and La Cenorentola. Go to see one. You won't be sorry. Just make sure that you buy your tickets in advance--the operas usually sell out.
posted by eeroots at 1:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home