Introduction to Opera

Today’s lesson: Go out and do something new. If in your life something comes across your path that you’ve never tried and thought you wouldn’t enjoy, give it a chance, you might surprise yourself.

This weekend I saw nine operas in 90 minutes. Okay so it wasn’t nine full operas but what I saw was a nice introduction to what opera is and a sneak peak at how I would react to the genre. There were just four performers on the stage: A Soprano, A Tenor, A Baritone and A lone Pianist. There were no elaborate costumes and only a couple of set pieces.

It was Opera for Dummies. Instead of having to sit through a full length opera while having no clue to what they are singing or what the story is all about we heard one song from a handful of operas. With each song came a synopsis of the scene. Then the performers would return to the stage to sing and even play the role. Although the song and scene only lasted a couple of minutes the three actors made each character different from the pervious. There was love, sadness, fear, and even some humor. The voices mixed smoothly together as the piano played.

As someone who has never seen a full opera the main thing I learned from this experience was that it is all about the entire performance that each performer gives. Some of the songs heard that night were in English so a newbie was able to fallow the scene but because of the way The Soprano, the Tenor and the Baritone sung and moved I was able to follow the Italian just as easily.

Before this weekend the only thing I knew about The Opera was that they seem to be hunted by a Phantom.

Now I’m not saying going to An Opera is skydiving or climbing Mount Everest but it was something new to me and after I gave it I try I would like to do it again.