Tonight was the opening night of The Metropolitan Opera. This season they are doing HD Live presentations around the world, one of those being in San Jose, Costa Rica. Ricardo and I went to see.
It was fantastic! When I lived in New York City 20+ years ago I would go to the Met several times a year. It was wonderful being able to see the opening night live, without the massive crowds. Renée Fleming is simply an amazing performer.
Sure, there were a couple of technical hiccups. At the beginning there was no sound, and in the second section the sound and video got out of sync, back in sync, then out of sync again. But that is to be expected with something new.
It was great to be at a live Met performance after all these years, it was one of the few things I still missed from NYC. To be able to do it at a 15 minute drive from my house is, well, just short of mind blowing.
Things like this remind me that as bad as some things are, the technical progress that is going on around us can make our lives richer and better.
Oooooh!
I’ve only been to one live opera performance, and it was very far from the Met, but it was still a wonderful experience. You mentioned one performer—the soloist, I’m guessing—but what opera was performed?
Several
On opening night the Met performs highlights from several different operas. Last night it was Act II from "La Traviata", Act III from "Manon" and the Final Scene from "Capriccio". Renée Fleming stared in all three. The operatic equivalent of a triathelon. Very impressive.
I should add that Ramón Vargas, who co-started in the first two, was also phenomenal.