My First Opera

Couple of weeks ago, my in-laws who run European Opera Tours, took me to see an opera. Basically there were two operas, which are normally performed together because they are short, CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA and I PAGLIACCI. I was very excited about my first opera. It was a wonderful introduction to our family business (European Opera Tours). We reached the theatre in Tampa, where I was impressed to see lots of young people among the spectators. Everyone was nicely dressed.

We had very good seats. That’s what you get when you go with specialists. The theatre was almost full with perfect ambiance. There was a big red curtain hanging over the stage, and I was eager to see behind the curtain. The curtain was removed slowly, with music paying in the foreground. I said to myself “wow” when I saw an attractive, elegant, three dimensional stage, lit up perfectly. Above the stage there was a screen. Subtitles were displayed in English, which was really good for a first time opera viewer, like me.

First they performed CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA. I have never experienced anything like that in my life before. It was full of music, acting and drama. Performers expressed their emotions through their singing. It was a kaleidoscope of colors displayed on the stage. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the music articulating the humorous and tragic emotions by singers with beautiful voices. It was a feast for my eyes, ears and my heart.

Reading up, I learned that the Western operas began in 1597, when the Italian Composer Jacopo Peri wrote DAFNE and EURIDICE, three years later. Then his contemporary, Claudio Monteverdi, with his brilliant talent of dramatic composition, supported by the Duke of Mantua, wrote 21 pieces of operas. They were exclusively based on stories from Greek mythology. Succeeding composers for the next hundred and fifty years used the same genre. The genius, Mozart, broke the mold with ‘THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO’, five years before he died at the age of 35. One day I would like to see it in Vienna, where it was first performed.

Since Mozart, hundreds of Western operas have been written by composers from Adolf Adam to Bern Zimmermann, including Philip Glass, who wrote SATYAGRAHA (shown above) based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Opera performances include efforts by many talented and trained artists including the conductor, musicians, singers, producers, costume designers, stage designers, lighting designers and even the prompter. The prompter faces the singers, hidden in a box on the stage, just below and behind the orchestra.

I can’t wait to join my in-laws this summer on one of their Opera Tours.