Changing the opera experience in large and subtle ways

[Mister Wednesday]

Greetings all,

 

An article on The New York Times website which might be of interest to those of you who are opera fans:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/arts/music/the-mets-hd-broadcasts-are-changing-opera.html?pagewanted=all

 

Regards,

 

Mister Wednesday

[Bob Stern]

I'm surprised only one or two of the comments below the NY Times article noted the inferior sound quality, and even those comments were restrained. I'm perplexed that people who attend live opera wouldn't be upset that the movie theater sound is far from "high definition". I speculate that most audience members are pleased that the movie theater sounds better than their home stereos and have no expectations of it approaching the sound of a live performance.

 

My primary frustration with the sound is that the rough, muddy treble completely destroys the expressive nuances of female singers.

 

Also, as noted in one comment, the loudness is excessive, which exacerbates the distortion. Once I asked the theater operator to reduce the loudness, and another patron angrily complained "Almost all of us are seniors with hearing deficits, so we want it loud."

 

On a positive note, I thoroughly enjoyed Simon Boccanegra, possibly because of the predominance of baritone roles. I loved Domingo's expressiveness in the title role, and I disagree with those who complained he lacked a true baritone timbre. I expect this will be repeated as one of the summer re-runs.

[R Johnson]

I've found the sound quality (and level) of the Met's "Live in HD" shows to be quite variable -- depending on the individual theater, but generally acceptable. Of course one has much more control of the audio when watching the PBS broadcasts or the DVD/BDs at home.

 

I find that opera in the movie theater can be a very good experience, in many ways superior to live performances when seen from reasonably priced seats in large opera houses. But I'm not giving up my subscription or support...

 

I watched "Wagner's Dream" -- the making of the Lepage "Ring" -- on Monday night. Quite interesting! Note that the "Ring" encore starts tonight (May 9). The other three are on May 14, 16 and 19. See http://www.fathomevents.com/performingarts/series/ringcycleencore2012.aspx

 

The Summer encore listing is at: http://www.fathomevents.com/performingarts/series/metsummerencores2012.aspx

I saw one or two last summer and was disappointed that they stripped out the intermission features.