Tosca
So, I’ve missed a couple Saturday Morning Art Blogging posts, and today isn’t Saturday morning, but I wanted to get this one up as part of the series.
Last night, we went to the opera to see Tosca. Live opera was everything I had imagined it could be, and more. This review isn’t so much the performance review as it is just thoughts from the first experience seeing opera.
Our seats were about 10 rows back from the stage in the orchestra circle, on the right side. I could see everything. The expression on the performers faces, the smaller gestures that don’t carry back to the balcony, everything. The opera house has an amazing setup, with a very very steep structure so there is supposed to be “no bad seats” – which I’d agree with, from where I sat (ha!) Next time, I’d be perfectly happy with mezz or balcony seating.
The stage set was gorgeous, the performance was amazing, and by the second act, when Tosca’s heart is breaking at the agony she is being put through – betray her love for Mario in order to save his life – both Marcus and I had tears just pouring down our faces. The third act was even more powerful, more beautiful, and more heart-wrenching, and we sobbed through nearly the whole thing.
The Ellie Caulkins opera house has one small feature that I think people would appreciate in some ways, but totally annoyed me: subtitles.
Every seat has a small led screen that flashes the English or Spanish translation of the performance, at the time the performers are singing the words on stage in italian, german, french, whatever. While I can appreciate the subtle nuances that are made available (like the line about the Voltaire reading rebels who don’t believe in Rome or God) – I really wanted to go into the performance with just the synopsis, and ‘see’ and ‘hear’ the performance in the italian to get the full experience. I was able to turn my words off, and the panels are set in such a way that you can’t see the ones to the sides – but the whole ten rows in front of me flashed like a field of blue every time the singing started, and it was really really distracting. In the first act, I found myself watching the subtitles and that pulled me out of the performance. But in the second and third acts, I worked really really hard to not read what they said, and focused on the stage. I felt more connected to the performers at that point, and I feel the subtitling really creates a wall between the performers and the audience. If you have a really good cast (which I think this performance did) they should be able to, for the most part, convey those nuances through their performance so you know what’s going on.
Sure, it’s easy for me to say all this because I have listened to opera, and I read the synopsis, and while I don’t speak italian, I speak enough french to pick up certain words, and I’m experienced with being an observant audience member for symphonic performances, plays, art, etc. I realize the subtitles are a way of bringing the accessibility to a wider audience, to cultivate a new crop of supporters, but still. I just wish the screens had been placed a bit lower, made a bit smaller, or a little dimmer.
Anyway. The performance? 5 stars. The opera house? 3.5 stars.
