This is the first proper opera that I have watched and it was an enjoyable experience. So, I didn’t understand a word, a lyric but there’s much to appreciate from this. Who hasn’t heard of La Traviata? Well, where I come from, pretty much everybody, I’m afraid. So, I bought a “song hits”, a lyric sheet, in English. But I didn’t read it. One day, I hope.
The venue was small, compared to the modern venues back home or in Asia. Maybe because venues here are typically multi-purpose : for a basketball game, a rock concert, a political rally built probably in the past 5 – 20 years. Whereas, this venue was built over a hundred years ago and is used primarily like the way we watch a movie. I quite liked the size of this theater. The size of our movie houses/cinema in decades ago.
During those times, there were no movies, of course hence, people looked forward to a opera. I didn’t understand a word though so I focused my senses on what I could see. I sat in the middle section which is probably about 10 rows behind the orchestra. Decent distance.
Luckily, I sat in the middle of a nice, young couple from Sweden and France who lived in the French border near Liechtenstein to my left and a lady from the South of England who was a member of the Academe that focused in the Arts and Design. What an interesting mix we had that we had a nice chat that evening. And well, none of them understood a word either but that is not always the point of Entertainment. Right ?
May Kwento Ako 