Opera!
Tonight I *finally* managed to see one of the Met's HD broadcasts at the movie theater. I have been meaning to do this for ages and ages now, but somehow I just kept missing dates or even flat-out forgetting that the theaters even *did* this.
I'm glad I actually made it to this one. It was a re-broadcast of Iphigénie en Tauride, and it was amazing.
All three of the leads- Iphigénie, Oreste, and Pylade- were incredible. Placido Domingo (Oreste) made me think of a huge lion. He and Paul Groves (Pylade) were amazing in duet- at a couple points I realized I was actually, literally gaping at the screen. ("Close your mouth, Michael. We are not a codfish.")
Susan Graham (Iphigénie) was heartrending and awesome and the whole opera was just fantastic. And both Susan Graham and Placido Domingo had bad colds during the performance- I can't believe it's possible to sing like that with a cold! Except, I sort of have no choice but to believe it because I saw them do it.
Oh, and on a totally shallow note, Iphigénie's fellow priestesses had extremely nifty dresses and I want one of them. (There's a picture with the priestesses in it here, fifth picture down, but sadly it does not show the way that the skirts flare out when the priestesses twirl. Alas!)
There are several more operas left in the Met's Live in HD lineup this season, but I definitely am not going to be able to afford to go every month with tickets at $20 a pop. Not that I'm complaining- I'm just glad that they're showing these broadcasts at all. There were only seven other people in the theater, and I'm pretty sure that Cinemark could have made a lot more than our $160 by using that screen to show a movie... or even two, since Iphigénie lasted three hours. Apparently putting on Operas at the Met at all is a losing proposition, financially speaking- it was mentioned during the intermission that revenue from ticket sales only covers about half the cost of each production- yikes! Grants and donations and so forth cover the rest. So I can hardly balk at the ticket price, even if it did make my wallet squeal a little in protest. And while I could of course just rent recordings of operas on DVD, seeing one on the big screen was so immersive, and I'd definitely like to have that experience some more!
I'm a little tempted to go see Lucia di Lammermore next month (or possibly even this Saturday if I want to see the live broadcast rather than the later recorded re-broadcast.) I have a job interview tomorrow, which is always a stressful thing, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I may end up using that as an excuse to justify splurging on another ticket already. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm going to skip the next two (Le Comte Ory and Capriccio) after that. The plot of Capriccio just doesn't appeal to me particularly. Le Comte Ory is a comic piece and might be fun, but I think I'd prefer a sweeping tragedy. I like catharsis.
Besides, I should save my money for the two after that- Il Trovatore and Die Walküre, both of which I absolutely want to see!
I'm glad I actually made it to this one. It was a re-broadcast of Iphigénie en Tauride, and it was amazing.
All three of the leads- Iphigénie, Oreste, and Pylade- were incredible. Placido Domingo (Oreste) made me think of a huge lion. He and Paul Groves (Pylade) were amazing in duet- at a couple points I realized I was actually, literally gaping at the screen. ("Close your mouth, Michael. We are not a codfish.")
Susan Graham (Iphigénie) was heartrending and awesome and the whole opera was just fantastic. And both Susan Graham and Placido Domingo had bad colds during the performance- I can't believe it's possible to sing like that with a cold! Except, I sort of have no choice but to believe it because I saw them do it.
Oh, and on a totally shallow note, Iphigénie's fellow priestesses had extremely nifty dresses and I want one of them. (There's a picture with the priestesses in it here, fifth picture down, but sadly it does not show the way that the skirts flare out when the priestesses twirl. Alas!)
There are several more operas left in the Met's Live in HD lineup this season, but I definitely am not going to be able to afford to go every month with tickets at $20 a pop. Not that I'm complaining- I'm just glad that they're showing these broadcasts at all. There were only seven other people in the theater, and I'm pretty sure that Cinemark could have made a lot more than our $160 by using that screen to show a movie... or even two, since Iphigénie lasted three hours. Apparently putting on Operas at the Met at all is a losing proposition, financially speaking- it was mentioned during the intermission that revenue from ticket sales only covers about half the cost of each production- yikes! Grants and donations and so forth cover the rest. So I can hardly balk at the ticket price, even if it did make my wallet squeal a little in protest. And while I could of course just rent recordings of operas on DVD, seeing one on the big screen was so immersive, and I'd definitely like to have that experience some more!
I'm a little tempted to go see Lucia di Lammermore next month (or possibly even this Saturday if I want to see the live broadcast rather than the later recorded re-broadcast.) I have a job interview tomorrow, which is always a stressful thing, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I may end up using that as an excuse to justify splurging on another ticket already. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm going to skip the next two (Le Comte Ory and Capriccio) after that. The plot of Capriccio just doesn't appeal to me particularly. Le Comte Ory is a comic piece and might be fun, but I think I'd prefer a sweeping tragedy. I like catharsis.
Besides, I should save my money for the two after that- Il Trovatore and Die Walküre, both of which I absolutely want to see!