An Afternoon at the Opera

You may remember that last spring, Alejandro and I went to a simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera's production of "The Barber of Seville" at Mexico City's National Auditorium.

I'm old fashioned in my tastes, and I prefer old, standards of the operatic repertoire... works such as "Aida" or "Carmen".  I also do not like it when modern directors tinker with classics by putting the characters in modern-day attire or doing the stage settings in strange minimalist or abstract style.  For me, part of the appeal of opera is the spectacle of period costumes and extravagant settings.

I have only seen a handful of performances live on stage, but I have seen many other operas at simulcasts at movie theaters in Ohio and when the Metropolitan was streaming performances for free during the pandemic.

Oddly enough, I had never seen what is arguably the most popular opera ever written... Puccini's "La Boheme".  So, when I saw that it was going to be simulcast during the 2025 - 2026 season, I definitely wanted to get tickets.  And it was going to use the lavish sets designed by director Franco Zeffirelli in 1981.  I did not have to twist Alejandro's arm to go with me.  He wasn't interested in the other operas in the schedule, but he did want to see "La Boheme".

Last Saturday we took the Metro to the National Auditorium, an enormous venue which seats over 9,000 spectators.

 

"La Boheme" is a tragic love story filled with familiar tunes.  The performers were excellent.  This is very politically incorrect, but I am glad that the soprano playing the heroine Mimi was a slender woman.  It would be hard to believe that she were dying of consumption if she were the stereotypical heavy-set opera singer.  Her lover, Rodolfo, however, did not look as if he were a starving poet.  The sets were beautifully designed, especially the Second Act which takes place in the Latin Quarter in Paris on Christmas Eve.

(Image taken from the internet)

With a crowd made up of the chorus, the children's chorus, and extras, it was the kind of  spectacle that puts the "grand" in "grand opera".

We noticed that the auditorium will be presenting Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" for the Christmas season.  We are thinking about getting tickets for that.