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Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first opera. The Metropolitan Opera House in New York sells their upper balcony seats for weeknight performances for $20 (plus fees and taxes so actually $30
). Never having gone to the opera but always wanting to see one, I finally took the plunge and bought a couple of tickets to Turando by Giacomo Puccini.
For those who aren't familar with the story, it's about a Chinese "ice princess" Turandot, who is highly sought after by many suitors but will only marry a prince who can answer three riddles. If he answers correctly he wins Turandot's hand in marriage and inherits the throne from the emperor of China. However, if he does not answer the three questions correctly he will be beheaded.
The show opens with the Prince of Persia being beheaded, while Calaf, the Prince of Tartary, comes to the palace to try and win Turandot's hand by answering the riddles.
This performance featured Maria Guleghina as Turandot, Maija Kovalevska as Liu, who is Timur, the King of Tartary's servant girl (and secretly in love with his son Calaf), Salvatore Licritra as Calaf, and Hao Jiang Tian as Timur. The performance was held at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York, NY. The conductor was Andris Nelsons. The orchestra was quite large and included a wide variety of instruments.
As the title suggests I know next to nothing about opera so it is difficult for me to be too critical. My first impression was that it was fabulous. This applies to both the individual performance and the art form itself. Granted, since this was the first opera I ever attended I have nothing to compare it to, but I imagine that the same level of detail goes into most performances at the Met. Everything about it was impressive.
I particularly liked Liu’s part toward the end of the first act, where she pleads with Calaf not to attempt the riddles. Calaf’s singing performance was excellent (as much as I can be a judge of such things) but I found his movements to be somewhat stiff. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to sing opera so his lack of movement onstage may have been due to technical vocal requirements. edit: a colleague who is a huge opera buff says that Licritra is always stiff. It's just the way he carries himself. He has a voice like Pavarotti but not the stage presence.
I found the characters of Ping (Joshua Hopkins), Pang (Tony Stevenson) and Pong (Eduardo Valdes) to be particularly engaging. All three had strong performances and the scene at the beginning of Act II, when they are pining for their homeland, was very enjoyable, with very accessible music. Actually, I found all of the music to be particularly enchanting, but I am partial to a “world music” sound and liked how Puccini was able to incorporate Chinese themes.
There was a definite audible gasp from my fellow audience members and me, when the curtain came up on the set of the Imperial Palace in the second act. Here we got our first look at the lovely Turandot and the most stunning of the gorgeous sets. Ms. Gulghina had a magnetic stage presence and seemed perfect for the role.
The highlight of the performance was definitely the Nessum dorma aria, beautifully delivered by Mr. Licritra. This was the only piece of music from Turandot that I had previously heard before so that may have had something to do with my appreciation of the performance, but his voice was clear, strong, confident and full of feeling. I did find the story a bit confusing though. I wasn’t quite sure what the big secret was about Calaf’s name. Just say it already so we can get some sleep!
The whole experience, the sets, the costumes, the orchestra, the performers, was all so enjoyable and so impeccably produced. Sure there’s a certain amount of novelty to the experience but I would definitely like to see many more opera performances.
If you live in or around New York City and you haven't been to the opera I strongly recommend going. If I were to go again I think I would spend a little more money and try to get a little closer. The seats were literally in God's Country. I could have repainted the ceiling while I was up there and the Met is no small place.
I also want to get a recording of Turandot. Can anyone recommend something? Is the Pavarotti recording conducted by Mehta the definitive one? I can't see how you could go wrong with that gang.
For those who aren't familar with the story, it's about a Chinese "ice princess" Turandot, who is highly sought after by many suitors but will only marry a prince who can answer three riddles. If he answers correctly he wins Turandot's hand in marriage and inherits the throne from the emperor of China. However, if he does not answer the three questions correctly he will be beheaded.
The show opens with the Prince of Persia being beheaded, while Calaf, the Prince of Tartary, comes to the palace to try and win Turandot's hand by answering the riddles.
This performance featured Maria Guleghina as Turandot, Maija Kovalevska as Liu, who is Timur, the King of Tartary's servant girl (and secretly in love with his son Calaf), Salvatore Licritra as Calaf, and Hao Jiang Tian as Timur. The performance was held at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York, NY. The conductor was Andris Nelsons. The orchestra was quite large and included a wide variety of instruments.
As the title suggests I know next to nothing about opera so it is difficult for me to be too critical. My first impression was that it was fabulous. This applies to both the individual performance and the art form itself. Granted, since this was the first opera I ever attended I have nothing to compare it to, but I imagine that the same level of detail goes into most performances at the Met. Everything about it was impressive.
I particularly liked Liu’s part toward the end of the first act, where she pleads with Calaf not to attempt the riddles. Calaf’s singing performance was excellent (as much as I can be a judge of such things) but I found his movements to be somewhat stiff. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to sing opera so his lack of movement onstage may have been due to technical vocal requirements. edit: a colleague who is a huge opera buff says that Licritra is always stiff. It's just the way he carries himself. He has a voice like Pavarotti but not the stage presence.
I found the characters of Ping (Joshua Hopkins), Pang (Tony Stevenson) and Pong (Eduardo Valdes) to be particularly engaging. All three had strong performances and the scene at the beginning of Act II, when they are pining for their homeland, was very enjoyable, with very accessible music. Actually, I found all of the music to be particularly enchanting, but I am partial to a “world music” sound and liked how Puccini was able to incorporate Chinese themes.
There was a definite audible gasp from my fellow audience members and me, when the curtain came up on the set of the Imperial Palace in the second act. Here we got our first look at the lovely Turandot and the most stunning of the gorgeous sets. Ms. Gulghina had a magnetic stage presence and seemed perfect for the role.
The highlight of the performance was definitely the Nessum dorma aria, beautifully delivered by Mr. Licritra. This was the only piece of music from Turandot that I had previously heard before so that may have had something to do with my appreciation of the performance, but his voice was clear, strong, confident and full of feeling. I did find the story a bit confusing though. I wasn’t quite sure what the big secret was about Calaf’s name. Just say it already so we can get some sleep!
The whole experience, the sets, the costumes, the orchestra, the performers, was all so enjoyable and so impeccably produced. Sure there’s a certain amount of novelty to the experience but I would definitely like to see many more opera performances.
If you live in or around New York City and you haven't been to the opera I strongly recommend going. If I were to go again I think I would spend a little more money and try to get a little closer. The seats were literally in God's Country. I could have repainted the ceiling while I was up there and the Met is no small place.
I also want to get a recording of Turandot. Can anyone recommend something? Is the Pavarotti recording conducted by Mehta the definitive one? I can't see how you could go wrong with that gang.
