Opera: the First Taste

I have been dazzled by Opera. The dress rehearsal of “The Barber of Seville” at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre was mesmerizing. The setting, the characters and the sound and those epic moments within it, how I was enthralled by it! The setting was delightful- It strongly reminded me of early 19^th century movie sets and it proved to be versatile enough to accommodate virtually all the scenes demands. A feature I especially liked was Rosina’s room, which could be spun around to provide a double-function. It was ingenious. At once it gave an atmosphere of private moments, as well as providing for balcony scenes.

I couldn’t really choose which characters I adore the most in this production; but I thoroughly enjoyed any moment that Figaro, Count Almaviva, or Doctor Bartolo were present. I like funny guys and these guys were hilarious. I loved how Figaro was portrayed, especially in those random moments where he did that weird tiptoe walk or his pride over his barber talent and other skills, his confidence and wackiness. His songs were also amazing with that baritone voice, his voice contained the comedy of the character and it was beautiful, his characters songs are some of my favourites. Likewise too I adored Doc’s mature baritone voice- the power and grandness of it, which went beautifully with him being such a grumpy old guy. He gave me the impression of being a smart old fox, and the continuous slapping away of his roaming hands by Rosina, which he snickered away when caught at it, was quite charming. Now Count Almaviva could be my most favourite of them all, only for the simple fact that his love songs were breathtaking- the tenderness and sincerity in them was stunningly beautiful with his voice (I think he’s a tenor though his artist bio said he’s a baritone, as it sounded very different from the other baritones). The count was also a very smart cookie, and devious too with his manipulations of events that were simply brilliant. My favourite moment in the whole Opera was when he was in disguise as a substitute music teacher and was exasperating the Doc with his…. His repetition of “oy-vey, oy-vey, oy-vey, something-vey” line, a blessing I think, which was so endearingly cheeky as I could see the total joy he was having in irritating the Doc with it. He was such a cheeky devil. The cheekiness and the gorgeous crooning truly do a number on the heart’s pitter-patters. However I think my other favourite moments in the opera were actually where when the extra characters were involved. The group opera singing was really, really pleasing to the ear. Generally these big group scenes had great comedic effect- who couldn’t snicker at the flood of underwear-only attired men? Or that mad scramble for their payment to their jubilant singing? I really thoroughly enjoyed the Opera, it was a wonderful experience and one I definitely want to repeat again and again.