Monday, November 16, 2015

We Went to the Opera! (a local color post)

This is a view from the very top of the balcony down to the stage during the intermission and set change. Yes, it is a long way down.
(Sorry, this is the only picture that came out well enough to post it. There just wasn't enough light to get good shots.)


We went to the opera, my wife and I. Twice, actually (and have a third trip coming up next week). When I say we went to the opera, I don't mean that we went to just some opera performance, I mean that we went to the San Francisco Opera. It's the second largest opera company in the States, so it's not some two-bit production. As we learned last time, the full stage area (including backstage) is more than 10 times the size of our house!

Yeah, that's not small. Our house is, but that stage is still pretty ginormous.

There's a lot I could say about the two trips, too much, now, for one post. For instance, we had car picnics on the way down both times so that we could make it on time. Finger foods, good finger foods, like bits of cheese and apple and olives and tri-tip. My wife fed me (and herself), and I drove, and we talked and had a lot of fun. The second trip, we were also invited to a wine and cheese tasting before the performance with a talk from the chorus master. That's the guy who teaches the chorus their parts. He's been there at the San Francisco Opera for quite a long time.

I could also tell you about the completely rude guy with OWDS who interrupted the presenter during the pre-show presentation about the opera. It was actually the dude (and, yes, he was an old, rich, white dude) and two women, and all three of them had flaming cases of OWDS, though the dude had it the worst. I suppose, though, the San Francisco Opera is a common meeting ground of people with OWDS. That guy really deserves his own post, although I probably won't actually get around to doing that.

There's a short review of the first opera we saw below. I'll do a different post for the other show.

Before I get to that, though, I want to make one specific general opera comment:
The problem with opera is that it is often just people standing and singing. As my wife says, it's difficult to do a lot of movement when you're trying to sing, especially the kind of singing that opera singers do. And, yet, this is not a problem for all opera performers. And, I think, it probably didn't used to be a thing at all. Opera, once upon a time, was performance for the common man. It was the equivalent of going to the movies. I'm pretty sure that opera used to be much more lively and performative, but gentrification has made it much more accepted to just stand and sing.

Lucia di Lammermoor
Gaetano Donizetti

This opera suffered much from the stand-and-sing issue, especially among the male performers. Mostly, they didn't even bother to summon up any facial expressions. Nicolas Teste as Raimondo was the worst. He was about as flat as a piece of paper. He's one of the main characters and, yet, he often felt like he belonged in the chorus, because he had about as much animation as them. He could certainly sing, but there was no emotion in it, and he rarely moved at all. Nadine Sierra, the female lead, however, was the exact opposite. She was expressive and animated. A performer in all senses of the word. She made the show worth watching, especially how creepy she was in the post-murder scene where she goes off the deep end. Sierra is what more opera performers should aspire to. Opera is not just singing; it's also acting.

The issue with this particular production of this opera was the director. His interpretation of it was to "modernize" it, which would be fine... if he had actually done that. What he actually did, though, was to produce the same period piece that it's supposed to be (with the women wearing big period dresses and all of that and the whole thing in a castle-ish setting) except that the men get to wear suits and some of them wave guns around. It creates a horrible muddle. It did not give the "near future" vibe it was supposed to give at all. Not even close.

Still, it was an enjoyable experience. overall. The singing was, as to be expected, amazing, and, actually, Nadine Sierra was good enough on her own to make the show worth watching even with the other issues of this production.

18 comments:

  1. I have never been to the opera. I feel like just saying the word "opera" you have to use one of those fancy schmancy rich people accents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JKIR,F!: That's what they'd like you to think, at any rate. Rich people, that is. It's really not true, though, from the standpoint of what opera is.

      Delete
  2. My son has always wanted to go see an opera. If you knew him you'd be shocked. He's not an opera kinda guy. He listens to techno and hard core rap but he wants that unique experience just once. One of these days I'll take him before he moves away. I'm glad you two had so much fun. I love that she feed you on your drive in. Adorable! Sorry about the OWDS jerks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elsie: He totally should, then. Choose carefully for the first one, though, and make sure he picks one that's either being performed in English or has a screen with translations.

      Delete
  3. Not a big opera fan, although just seeing the building inside would be impressive.
    If you're going to modernize, go all out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex: The inside of the building is very impressive. So is the outside.

      Delete
  4. There was a podcast about Wagner's "The Ring Cycle" that made me want to go watch it, because that's what podcasts/articles do to me. But then I remembered that I once went to an opera in Milwaukee and didn't enjoy it that much. (We got tickets for $5, and it seemed interesting.)

    I think opera is somewhere between "musical" and "oratorio" in terms of the staging: some movement but not a lot. But that's my uneducated idea.

    The car picnic sounds fun, although I'd have substituted 'pizza and more pizza' for your finger foods.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Briane: I want to see the Ring Cycle, and we're looking into that.

      The problem with opera, as with any art, is that there is so much variation in it. A good performance will hook just as quickly as a good book, but a bad performance can turn you off it just like a bad book as your first reading experience can turn you off of reading.

      Delete
  5. Opera fascinates me. I've never been, and wonder now if I would enjoy it. I like the music, but if all they do is just stand there and sing, I don't think that would make for a very enjoyable viewing experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ABftS: They don't ALL just stand there and sing. It's highly dependent upon the performers and the director. You have to pick the right one.

      Delete
  6. Overall, the opera sounds like an amazing experience. Except for the OWDS part. I have a feeling that the opera is the kind of place that would have a lot of that going on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jeanne: It kind of is, yeah, which is unfortunate.

      Delete
  7. Fun trip. I love live theater, but I've never been to the opera. I'd probably enjoy it if I tried it though. Husband, on the other hand, would not. Pretty sure about that. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. L.G.: There are a lot of things that have to combine for someone to enjoy opera.

      Delete
  8. I love musicals, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about opera. I did always think the emotions would be strong in an opera, though. Even Les Miserables had too much singing for me, and my brain revolted against it. However, your date nights and the drives on the way there sound wonderful. Sounds like it was worth it just for that time spent together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shannon: Not all operas are ALL singing, although most are.
      And it's definitely true that the time spent together is worth the trip.

      Delete
  9. I've thought about going to see an opera, but when I check some of the local productions it was so darn expensive that I decided not to go. Besides it means we'd have to leave our house and be out at night. Although they might have some matinees on occasion.

    I went to see an opera in 1980 in Knoxville TN. I guess it was a local company, but the production was outstanding as I recall. The presentation was Mozart's Abduction of the Seraglio or something like that. The venue was a grand old restored movie/vaudeville theater in downtown Knoxville. I sat on the last row by an exit because I brought my then 3 year old son with me and I wanted to make a quick exit if I needed to, but he was enthralled and sat in rapt attention through the entire show.
    For days afterwards he would emulate what he had seen and go around singing in his "opera" voice. He was quite funny with it.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lee: You should check for cheap seats. We do sit at the top of the balcony to be able to afford to go.

    ReplyDelete