RE: Terry and the Opera

[Guest guest]

Hello Terry,

And a very happy new Year. You poor

folks in the Northern Hemisphere. We here in Australia are

going through a most trying drought and hot spell. In Melbourne, our Capital yesterday it was 42

degrees Celcius, apparently the hottest day (after the hottest year) on record,

and by the all important midnight moment, it was still 30 degrees they said. Today

is a bit more comfortable, at least it certain is here in my own City of Ballarat.

So pleased that you are getting to see

your first Opera. It will be an experience you’ll never forget; and

you asked about how one might prepare most appropriately.

Well, I cant say I’ve been a

consistent Opera goer over my 72 years, but I’ve seen many stage

performances of many of the great Verdi Operas, as well as the most popular by

Rossini, and all the Mozart cycle. Then the Puccinis and the two most

popular Bizets. Then the one I saw a couple of weeks back, - Tales of Hoffman;

but Fidelio remains my dearest favourite, which as I’ve mentioned before,

I’ve seen on Screen some four or five times, and on stage once. I

have three complete CD sets of it, and a single CD of highlights. My own

favourite production is on CD only and stars Jon Vickers with the incomparable

Christa Ludwig (playing Fidelio/Leonora). It was of great help to me to

read the printed notes that came with the CD set, for sure, and that

unfortunately is not possible with a DVD set of it. Perhaps you might

find some notes on it and its history on the internet.

Now as to preparation for your

attendance. There are a few things I might suggest. The most

important thing I’d point out, especially from my own point of view as an

Actor and Stage Play Director. NO two productions will ever look or

sound the same of any theatrical production. So keep in mind the fact

that you will NOT hear (and see on stage) the same sounding or looking thing

that you have grown used to on screen. The voices will sound decidedly

different. There will be changes of emphasis and timing in ways that you

may be disappointed in. The drama (even not acted or costumed) will

be delivered in a fashion that will match the Musical Director and the

performance Director who have produced the show, and no combination of these

will match any others in their concept of it all. Keep in mind too,

that in producing the DVD you’ve been watching, there are all sorts of

tricks and filming processes that tend to sanitize both sound and looks in the

show. The very fact of homing in for close-ups on the singers can change

one’s experience of both the character and voice, in a fashion that will

give distinctly different experiences of their performances.

Sometimes in Operas, (and remember this is some 200 years old) it might even be

a different text or edition with slight and shocking variations in music Orchestra

instruments, or text, from what you’ve heard in another

presentation. Heaven knows, poor old Beethoven has probably been turning

in his grave over variations that have been made to his music at times.

So for your first attendance as this is,

may I say with all respect and perhaps a bit of professional thinking, - Be

careful not to go with a lot of preconceptions about what it will be

like. Do all you can possibly do to let the singers, the music and

the story take you where they will. Let the experience wash over you and

carry you along. For this reason, I would definitely caution you against any

singing along with the singers at any time, however sotto voce (in low or

inaudible tone). This however tempting for one such as you who have

prepared yourself by intricate and intimate knowledge of the Lyrics and the

Score, to do so at home. You see, you would not truly be listening

like an Opera Lover to hear just what is being granted to you by the performers

on this occasion. You would just be engaging in a subjective fashion with

the show and dictating your own experience. And strictly speaking

you would not be truly seeing and hearing the

performance. As well, with all the good will in the

world, you may unwittingly let out some sounds in your musical sympathy, that

the persons sitting near you will actually hear. It is a very

different sort of experience listening in the Concert Hall, to what it is like

in the privacy of your own home. You wouldn’t want anyone

near you to interrupt your reception of it all. So don’t inflict

any of your sounds on those near you. Applaud at the right times, smile,

weep tears (and Heaven knows, Fidelio is an Opera that can just command tears

from a sensitive person), keep pretty quiet, and do your best to forget those

who sit beside you, and just enjoy without dictating too much in advance of

what the whole thing will mean to you.

From the point of an AS individual, you

may be in danger of falling into an old trap in attending, and that is the

process of watching with a somewhat divided self. Try not to watch

yourself ‘watching the show’. Give yourself over entirely to

watching and listening, and do your best to avoid thinking about yourself doing

it. Let it all be for you simply a total experience, and not

something that you look on at from a great distance. If it is possible

for you too, (and not always easy for an Aspie) allow the enthusiasm of the

whole audience to infect you a bit at the intervals of response. Join

with them in excitement as you applaud and find yourself being carried away in

this most wonderful work of Art.

One other thing, keep in mind that not

everyone will actually tend to ‘worship’ a particular Opera or

piece of music in the way that you or I might treasure Fidelio. Others

may just enjoy it for entertainment, or as general music lovers. Some may

even find it boring and attend only as a formality. Some may be

professional musicians and go essentially to criticize or to assess and learn

from the production. Be tolerant of them, if you find yourself sitting

near folks who are not as carried away as you yourself are by the

Work.

Well, all this being said, (and I know it’s

still a couple of months away) I’m sure that you will find your first

Opera to be a great experience and gift, perhaps. I look forward

eventually to reading of your attendance.

All the best,

Ron.