Have you ever taken a restless 8 year old boy to an opera about relationships and intrigues between men and women and the eventual marriage of two of them? Well I tried it this afternoon, but ultimately the experiment was unsuccessful. The occasion was the inaugural performance by a new opera company, Opera New England. Fancy a town of 25,000 people (Armidale) being home to an opera company! And the opera was Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, one of the most famous in the repertoire. The small orchestra, of only 11 musicians, was largely local, but some of the cast were imported for the occasion.
Anticipating disaster, I booked the cheapest seats for Max and me, but we had a good view of the performance and the sound was excellent. We paid roughly 26 GBP for the two seats combined at The Armidale School's excellent auditorium. The seats were along the gallery at the side of the main tiered seating.
Alas, Max found most of the performance dull and couldn't understand the characters, the words they were singing, the 'jokes' or rather amusing asides, and the absence of beat! He began to wriggle and squirm; and add the sound of crunching potato crisps to that of the orchestra. He wondered repeatedly aloud when the first half (Acts I and II) was going to arrive. Only occasionally, during some of the energetic duets, did Max quieten and listen to the music. Indeed, occasionally he was riveted, but I doubt that he'll warm to the genre quickly.
During the interval Max and I made our way home and I missed the final two acts. Oh well, it was an experiment that failed and perhaps Max will remember it to his benefit. The pictures show the orchestra pit, the revolving stage with the cast arranged in a circle for the overture, and a scene from Act II.
AS
Anticipating disaster, I booked the cheapest seats for Max and me, but we had a good view of the performance and the sound was excellent. We paid roughly 26 GBP for the two seats combined at The Armidale School's excellent auditorium. The seats were along the gallery at the side of the main tiered seating.
Alas, Max found most of the performance dull and couldn't understand the characters, the words they were singing, the 'jokes' or rather amusing asides, and the absence of beat! He began to wriggle and squirm; and add the sound of crunching potato crisps to that of the orchestra. He wondered repeatedly aloud when the first half (Acts I and II) was going to arrive. Only occasionally, during some of the energetic duets, did Max quieten and listen to the music. Indeed, occasionally he was riveted, but I doubt that he'll warm to the genre quickly.
During the interval Max and I made our way home and I missed the final two acts. Oh well, it was an experiment that failed and perhaps Max will remember it to his benefit. The pictures show the orchestra pit, the revolving stage with the cast arranged in a circle for the overture, and a scene from Act II.
AS
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