For now my tidal wave of blog posts are done. Unless I feel the mood to blog about opera between now and March, you will be left without a post until then. Had to get all that information out of my head though before they ran together even more. The website at Seattle Opera was particularly helpful with the memory process. Sadly I am a very visual person and seeing the set pictures often helped me remember what was going on in the opera. Until next time!
Since this is the latest opera I have seen my memory is freshest with it. You may actually get some real information with this one. Il Trovatore is fantastic. It also has an incredibly recognizable song in it which is the video above. Check it out. You may find your toes even tapping along. (Hang on until about 1:20 seconds)
Pros: Wonderful chorus numbers. Hopefully you will have found the anvil chorus to be as familiar to you as I did. Particularly I enjoyed the aria's by Leonora that hit the lower half of her vocal register. They were masterfully done and I get the impression that while it is difficult to keep a high note from breaking the low notes are difficult to project throughout the entire opera house. I keep reminding myself that mics are not used.
Cons: The gypsy lady is weird. And unless you read the back story portion in the opera program you may have found yourself a bit confused. They seem to glaze over some of the details (at least the subtitling did) I also found the vocal performance of Manrico to not be as strong as I wished. Sometimes he seemed over powered by Count di Luna.
Finally, finally, finally I am in the current season! I am so excited to have three operas by Verdi this year. It is quite neat to be able to compare the different operas in such a close time period.
Pros: Wonderful story line and singing. I couldn't help but want everything to work out for these characters. The singing was wonderful.
Cons: Really really did not care for the dad in this opera. Of course I wasn't supposed to be thrilled with him so I guess in that matter he did a good job.
Such a fun opera. I have to say that it is always nice to have one or two that are just fun to watch. Lots of characters and situations. This opera includes some slapstick elements which are always a treat. Very delightful to hear the entire opera house roaring with laughter.
Pros: Entirely enjoyable. An opera for the masses. It is ridiculously popular and for good reason. The staging was great. The costumes were great. Their were large sections of pseudo conversation (which I happen to like)
Cons: Crowded theater. That is about as bad as I can say though!
Ok. This opera is best described as opera on acid because there is no plot. It is like the mental break of a woman who killed her lover. The walls moved and flowed and she roamed around like a crazy person (no pun intended).
Pros: I found the visual performance to be quite enthralling and kept my attention the entire time.
Cons: Since there is no real story, just one woman singing the entire opera, it feels a bit like a weird monologue that you can't get out of seeing. It was also not as interesting musically especially compared with Bluebeard's Castle. The two operas were a fine fit in length but topically it was quite a stretch to see them together.
This opera I saw paired with Erwatung since both are short one act operas. The theme is really creepy and the lady had to be an idiot to think that this guy is worth marrying but that is just me. Without that dynamic there would be no opera.
Pros: Astounding music. Very reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock horror shows and scary movies. It kept you on the edge of you chair knowing that something very, very bad was going to happen to this new bride.
Cons: By the time you hit the seventh door it feels a bit redundant but that is ok.
Just when you feel like all opera is consumed with death and revenge along comes an opera like The Pearl Fishers. This opera is a wonderful story about making the right choices for the right reasons.
Pros: Brilliant scenery and lighting. The singers were fantastic and the story line was great. Had a very ancient feeling to the story.
