Two Vocal Experiences: In Theatre and Concert Hall

Last Monday I bought a ticket at a suburban movie complex.  It was a rebroadcast of an opera from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Le Nozze de Figaro, of Mozart, "The Marriage of Figaro".  Comedic though it is this opera captures the vagaries of human motives and relationships with deftness and in a very short space of time.  This is the third time I've watched and listened to opera in this way.  It is very effective.  The cost is reasonable ($26 in this case) relative to a ticket for even local opera let alone the Met.  The video blocking is well done although the camera people got caught a few times in this production.  At one point I thought the real alternative would have been split screen to capture action on both sides of the stage. 

The cameras give you a much closer view than you would have live at the opera house.  This adds to dramatic effect but I'm sure it puts pressure on the singers to be both better and more careful actors.  The sound is excellent.  Like a sports event there are interviews before and during.  The company is attempting to attract to new audiences.  I am not sure how successful this will be, but it gives casual and not so moneyed fans of opera a means to enjoy it a high level.  With the expansion of cities it is also an opportunity to enjoy this cultural activity without having to travel downtown. 

Tuesday night I had tickets to hear an oratorio, a vocal performance of soloists, choir and orchestra without dramatic sets or acting.  Handel's Messiah is traditional piece to perform at Christmas.  In three parts and using biblical texts as a source for meditation, Handel focuses on the reality of salvation through the birth (incarnation), death (passion) and resurrection (pledge of eternal life - the New Jerusalem). 

The version on Tuesday night was akin to Victorian performances, i.e., Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Bass, with a large choir.  I was seated in the second row.  This is a vantage point that can't really be replicated either in the theatre or in recordings.  I have two very good recordings with balanced sound.  But being in the front allows you to both hear and see the expression and interaction between the soloists themselves, the conductor, the orchestra and the choir.  It made the evening very lively.  Too much refinement can miss some of the fun. 

I remember going to my first performance and thinking, "Gee, it takes awfully long to sing each of the texts, because they repeat the lines again and again."  Now, after being at several performances and listening to it many times at home, it seems to fly by, because each section is so wonderfully focused on its particular text.  Handel had a great ability to match sound to sense. 

Together, having a couple of evenings of deep listening and watching reminded me of how important it is.  We are inundated with information, visual and aural and yet it is very pixelated -- very short bursts that quickly break from one to another.  Slowing the internal metronome down and allowing the beauty of the words and music to speak.  There is something of prayer in this and certainly the same type of discipline and experience. 

Thanks be to God for the gifts of Handel and Mozart.