A Night at the Opera

For her birthday, I treated my sister to a night on the town and an evening at the Chicago Lyric Opera. I do have to explain that my family has only come to like classical music and opera within the last few years. They kindof have to, since I was a voice major---and since I am training for the possibility of performing this great, but dying art. Stacye's move into appreciating opera began with a CD I purchased for her of two great opera singers performing Broadway numbers---Under the Stars by Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming. Very slowly after that, I moved her into more classically oriented CDs of Renee's. Today, she is an avid Renee/Kathleen Battle, Ronan Tynan, etc. etc. etc. lover! :) In short, she likes classical music and opera. So a trip to Lyric seemed an ideal gift for her---and a new experience for both of us.

Our Night on the Town included a Caribou coffee and driving downtown after I got off work. We didn't have any specific plans except dinner and the opera. One thing we did not know, is that everything shuts down after 5 in Chicago. The businesses and restaurants cater to the business people, who eat lunch there, then clear out of Chicago around 5. So as we walked along Wacker Street, we couldn't find a blessed place to eat.

UNTIL!

We passed the Lyric Opera House! Check! We knew where we were eventually headed. Up ahead, we saw a pasta-ish place open. Sounded good! As we crossed the street, I turned my head and saw Giordano's! Now I know why Chicago's claim to fame is its PIZZA! If you have never eaten at Giordano's, you have truly missed out on life. We had not eaten there before, so we took on the challenge of something new. And boy! We were not disappointed. We shared a 12" thick crust, stuffed pizza and a house salad! Never again will I be able to eat Papa John's!

After dinner, we made our way back down the street to the Lyric. I cannot even begin to explain the experience. It is truly interesting to watch the various people that come to the opera. Ladies in fur, men in tuxedo's, guys in jeans, every style of clothing you can imagine. Scarves, hats, shawls, skirts, pants---it was all there!

It was a full house that night! We went to see Dialogue of the Carmelites by Poulenc. Stacye told me later that I didn't know she was even there once the curtain went up. Felicity Palmer, Anna Christy, Isabel Bayrakdarian----top-notch artists! The staging and lighting were phenomenal. In this opera, there are very few props. The people are the props. If props are needed, the cast members and chorus bring them on and take them off. Lighting was minimal, but distinctive. It was just as much a part of the plot, as the actors were. The plot centers around a young aristocratic girl, whose life is characterized by fear believes that she can find peace in a convent. The time period is set during the French Revolution. As the plot unfolds, one comes to understand the fears of each of the nuns, and you admire how they strive to overcome them. Blanche meets another young girl at the convent, Constance, who is convinced that they will die together at a young age. As the Revolution comes to the front door of the convent, the nuns are eventually sentenced to the guillotine. The opera has a dramatic finish! The orchestra imitates the sounds of the guillotine as the nuns sing the Salve regina. With each strike of the blade, each woman drops out of the chorus and falls to the stage floor in the form of a cross. Blanche, who had run away, comes back to join her fellow sisters in the end. Radiated with joy, she sings alone until the strike of the blade is heard. She stands silent in the middle of the stage, her arms outstretched, visualizing a cross.

I had chills and a lump in my throat. Each performer sang with heart and understanding! One could not help but be drawn in! Felicity Palmer's dying scene was characterized by absolute dare and stellar as an actress. She completely bore her soul to the audience. Anna Christy was everything a coloratura should be---spunky, bright, and lighthearted. Voice matched emotion and character! Isabel Bayrakdarian's stage presence left you breathless every time she came on stage.

It was good for me to see these things. As an artist, you can't help but selfishly wonder if you are the only one that stupidly bears your soul. Are you the only one that looks like you do on stage, or acts like you do, or sings like you do. But no, none of us are alone. I came away wondering where the balance of loss and gain is in this world of music. To gain understanding and depth of character as well as vocal completion, one must dare to give out your inner core and soul to an audience eager to relate to each character being portrayed. What does it take for that to happen? I mean, what does it REALLY take? Is it more than musical and inner passion? Love? Desire? Humility? Unselfishness? Dare? How funny it seems, that in an art that seems to demand perfection, these elements contain the very opposite.