The Met Opera live in high definition
Eric Braunegg
Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: Entertainment
On Saturday, November 22, the opera La Damnation De Faust (The Damnation of Faust) was broadcasted live from The Metropolitan Opera, and shown on the big screen at the local Roxy Theater. La Damnation De Faust begins with Faust (Marcello Giordani) an old man who is depressed and has trouble understanding the happiness and joy in life. Downtrodden, Faust pours himself a glass of poison and is about to drink it, but stops and hears church bells and hymns, reminding him of his youth when he still had his faith. Then, Méphistophélès (John Relyea) appears and proposes to take Faust on a journey where he will regain his youth and be granted all of his wishes. Faust agrees to Méphistophélès's proposal and they travel to a tavern, where Faust has regained his youth and is surrounded by song and laughter. While the scene is joyous, Faust is revolted by how superficial the tavern folk are and demands that they leave.
Méphistophélès then shows Faust a vision of Marguerite (Susan Graham), who Faust immediately falls in love with. Later, Méphistophélès takes Faust to Marguerite's house, where they instantly fall in love, but the neighbors learn that there is an intruder in the house, and call out to Marguerite's mother to warn her; Méphistophélès and Faust just barely escape. Afterwards, Marguerite waits for Faust to visit her during the night, as he had done for many nights before, only he does not show. Faust, alone, is visited once again by Méphistophélès, who tells Faust that Marguerite is in prison for the accidental death of her mother, and will be hanged in the morning. In order to save Marguerite, Faust signs a contract and pledges his soul to Méphistophélès. In the end, Faust was dragged into hell for selling his soul. Marguerite on the other hand, was hanged the next day, and went to heaven.
Overall, the performance was astounding. Seeing the opera in the movie theater may even be a better experience than seeing it live, as there is no dress code and the broadcast gives viewers a behind the scenes look with the opera singers during the intermission. The sheer complexity of the set and the visual effects was outstanding. The set was comprised of very intricate scaffolding that had four levels where singers and dancers performed. There were also two projection screens, one in front of the scaffolding, and one behind. This allowed for seamless setting transitions during the performance. The scaffolding also allowed the performers to rappel and climb up the set, adding more depth to the performance. The singers themselves were quite impressive. The singing quality was superb, and the performers did an excellent job of both singing and acting at the same time, making the characters much more believable. It was hard to understand what was being said, (The opera is performed in French) the subtitles were a great help in understanding what was occurring during the opera. I would strongly recommend seeing La Damnation De Faust to both avid opera fans and first time audiences.
Méphistophélès then shows Faust a vision of Marguerite (Susan Graham), who Faust immediately falls in love with. Later, Méphistophélès takes Faust to Marguerite's house, where they instantly fall in love, but the neighbors learn that there is an intruder in the house, and call out to Marguerite's mother to warn her; Méphistophélès and Faust just barely escape. Afterwards, Marguerite waits for Faust to visit her during the night, as he had done for many nights before, only he does not show. Faust, alone, is visited once again by Méphistophélès, who tells Faust that Marguerite is in prison for the accidental death of her mother, and will be hanged in the morning. In order to save Marguerite, Faust signs a contract and pledges his soul to Méphistophélès. In the end, Faust was dragged into hell for selling his soul. Marguerite on the other hand, was hanged the next day, and went to heaven.
Overall, the performance was astounding. Seeing the opera in the movie theater may even be a better experience than seeing it live, as there is no dress code and the broadcast gives viewers a behind the scenes look with the opera singers during the intermission. The sheer complexity of the set and the visual effects was outstanding. The set was comprised of very intricate scaffolding that had four levels where singers and dancers performed. There were also two projection screens, one in front of the scaffolding, and one behind. This allowed for seamless setting transitions during the performance. The scaffolding also allowed the performers to rappel and climb up the set, adding more depth to the performance. The singers themselves were quite impressive. The singing quality was superb, and the performers did an excellent job of both singing and acting at the same time, making the characters much more believable. It was hard to understand what was being said, (The opera is performed in French) the subtitles were a great help in understanding what was occurring during the opera. I would strongly recommend seeing La Damnation De Faust to both avid opera fans and first time audiences.
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