Patterico's Pontifications

3/25/2007

Metropolitan Opera Simulcasts

Filed under: General,Music — Patterico @ 9:39 pm



This weekend, we saw a simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s Barber of Seville. I went with Marc “Armed Liberal” Danziger and his charming wife T.G.

If you don’t know about these, read about them here. The idea is that, on six Saturdays this year, the Metropolitan Opera simulcasts operas in high-definition on IMAX movie screens throughout the world. You go to your local movie theater and watch it live — but due to the magic of multiple cameras and good direction and production, you get to experience the opera from all different angles, including close-ups and audience shots . . . all while you munch your popcorn.

I first heard about it from my mom, who had seen Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky. They are running an encore broadcast of that next month, as well as a live performance of Puccini’s Il Trittico. I hope to see both.

The kids went and seemed to enjoy it okay. I told them the story on the hour-long drive to Irvine, and played them some music along the way. (Mrs. P. was at a work seminar.) Lauren (age 7) seemed to enjoy it. Matthew (age 4) was attentive during the first part, but faded away some after the intermission.

We talked about the fact that, while we were watching it in Irvine, G-ma was watching it in Fort Worth, Texas, at the very same time.

During the intermission, they interviewed the principal singers. The soprano playing Rosina was from Kansas, and said that her family was watching live, including some young relatives. “They’ll be asking why I’m crying so much,” she said. I leaned over to T.G. and said: “That’s what Matthew keeps wanting to know: ‘why is she crying?'”

Rosina knows kids.

Anyway, I highly recommend it. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than flying to New York to see the Met (trust me, I’ve done it), and you get a great seat, no matter where in the theater you sit.

7 Responses to “Metropolitan Opera Simulcasts”

  1. I saw a comercial for that and it looked neat but I couldn’t decide if it was silly or not… the concept seemed a teeny bit odd.

    Maybe we’ll try to make the next one…

    David N. Scott (71e316)

  2. I’ve heard they’re good. I’m going! (And kids enjoy The Magic Flute–we had a great production in OC a while ago.)

    Patricia (824fa1)

  3. My wife saw that production while visiting Cleveland. She thought they did a wonderful job. I look forward to seeing a few next year.

    Pigilito (c3bb6a)

  4. Eugene Oneigin is a masterpiece, and while Trittico isn’t Puccini’s greatest, It does have some fine moments. The one and only time I’ve been in LA was for the opera to see my favorite: Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss). It’s a very comfortable house, though nothing is as comfortable as the Sarasota Opera, where the chairs roll around and you can stretch your legs out.

    rightwingprof (5649f5)

  5. It’s good to see the Met reaching out to a larger audience, but, hey, I’ve got a better idea. Just revive the old three-to-four performance schedule on PBS each year.

    James Fulton (385db3)

  6. Nothing was quite like seeing the Met on tour, which I got to do in Atlanta in the late ‘seventies. They offered a full week’s worth, and many people would see every opera, including the matinee (which meant seeing two performances on Saturday). Being on a student budget, I had to be picky, although one year I was an usher and got to see every single one. The worst part was the billed stars who apparently didn’t want to play the provinces: both Vickers and Pavarotti pulled that stunt–which turned La Favorita into a disappointment (mainly due to the soprano, who was literally taller and huskier than the fill in tenor, and belonged to the old “stand at the front of the stage and sing without any pretense of acting” school).

    But I did get to see, among others, the Zefferelli production of Otello, the Chagall production of Zauberflote, and one of the greatest productions of Boris Godunov ever, the one where the chorus received the primary standing ovation. There were some misses, besides La Favorita, including a lame Lohengrin, a pedestrian Trovatore, and programming decisions that resulted in the same production of Tosca being toured twice in three years. Close to thirty years later, it’s the productions themselves I remember far more than any particular singer. Trittico, btw, was one of them.

    kishnevi (6273ad)

  7. What was it like to finally hold Danziger’s gun in your hands?

    The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2)


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