Four of us went to the Boston Lyric Opera’s Rigoletto. Run out and see it before March 23!
As with the Barber of Seville back in 2012, hearing the opera in a hall whose size the composer would have recognized is a much better experience than being in the cavernous Met.
All of the performers were great (including the orchestra) but we particularly enjoyed Nadine Sierra as Gilda. She was a wonderful actress as well as singer.
[If you haven’t seen Rigoletto before and you are a parent, especially of a daughter, be warned that it is pretty upsetting. Pretty soon I will be limiting myself to G-rated entertainment!]
I can see this is probably a difficult decision for parents and highly dependent on the actual production. My experience is that provided it’s not unduly realistic, children filter, and just don’t perceive in the subject matter what we see as adults. Often enough, an Italian libretto (for instance) ensures focus on the music, costumes and set.
We’ve been taking our daughter to the opera since she was four. Her first was the story of a promiscuous rake called Don Giovanni and the
second, the sad fate of a ‘commercial’ lady – in La Traviata! Wikipedia
offers the quote “Those who have quietly sat through the glaring improprieties of Don Giovanni will hardly blush or frown at anything in La traviata.”, Now eleven years old and thirty operas later, her current obsession is Cosi Fan Tutte – (“Women are like that”- a story of dual female pre-marital indiscretion) and her previously opera-averse school friend is now a regular opera-goer.
Considered it until I saw the ticket prices. Is $175 for the cheap seats the typical price for seeing an opera?
Mihaela: I didn’t mean to warn parents that their children would be upset. The warning was that the adult (parent) would be upset! (A girl who seemed to be about 12 was sitting nearby and not visibly disturbed.)
Al: The BLO has a press release where they say that “three show packages begin at $90.” So, at least for subscribers, it is possible to attend for a reasonable price. Another good option is http://www.metoperafamily.org/hdlive in movie theaters. Saves you a trip to New York City.
I can’t speak for Boston, but in D.C., Washington Opera often has tickets for half price on goldstar.com.
Thanks for the info Phil and Les. The Met Opera in theaters seems like a good way to start. As for Goldstar; they did not seem to include Boston Lyric Opera but had many other shows that are worth checking out.