oh opera

here's my response to our art event this week. we went to the auditorium theatre (a beautiful building with the best acoustics in the world) to see an opera. it was the story of Margaret Garner, a slave who escaped with her family, only to be recaptured. instead of having them go back to the life of slavery, she killed her own children. this led to one of the longest court cases involving civil rights at the time- deciding whether or not she should be tried for murder or destruction of property (since according to the laws at the time, Margaret's children were the property of the slave owner). her story, which actually happened, is also a book by Toni Morrison, called Beloved.
some of you may have read it. anyway, this is what i had to say on the experience:

"So, what did you think of the show?"
"I liked everything but the singing."

I said that at least twice Thursday night. And it's true. I had little experience with opera singing before last night, and I was never really impressed. And it has nothing to do with the talent of those singing, but the style itself. It's a strange, foriegn style for me, and perhaps with time and experience I'll come to appreciate it for what it is. And maybe I have to see the right shows. But where I am right now, I don't like opera.
Someone asked me early this week what the difference is between operas and musicals. They'd always thought that an opera was something that was completely composed of singing, little to no spoken dialogue. But then Caroline, or Change could be classified as an opera rather than a musical. The way I see it is a difference in the style of singing, the way each uses singing in the performance. Actors in musicals, and I'm borrowing this from a friend, sing when and because they are so passionate or emotional that merely speaking isn't enough- they have to sing. Songs, along with the music, in a musical are used to help convey those feelings, or help define setting and environment. They want the audience to understand what's happening, to feel it with them.
Opera on the other hand, and this is my own conclusion after last night and is probably an exaggeration, doesn't seem to want you to even understand the words! The more notes you can put into one word, the better. All the songs sound the same if you take away the music. There is no emotion in the way they sing. You can only get that by watching the actors- but because of the way they sing, I don't believe the way they act. It makes it very frustrating, for me at least, to watch an opera.
I also noticed that when some of the actors were singing major parts, they faced the audience, not the person they were supposed to be in dialogue with. And sometimes when two or more actors were singing together (not counting the choruses), they didn't seem to fit well together. Is opera supposed to be that individualistic? Where it's everyone singing the best they can, drawing as much attention to themseves, with no regard for their partners' voices? That's what was running through my mind most of the night.
I would have loved the show otherwise. The set was amazing! I loved how they used the fly system. The pattern on the walls and floor was absolutely gorgeous, and it worked so well and changed so much with every different lighting system. And the story was incredibly sad! But beautiful, too. Bittersweet freedom in the form of death. That's what Margaret Garner got at the end. It's all she had left. It was with a melancholy heart that I left the theatre. Even with singing I didn't believe, the sght of Margaret hanging there broke my heart.
It is disgusting to me how anyone could have even considered calling children property, especially belonging to someone who isn't even their parent. it's hard to believe that that was the accept, and expected, mindset back then. amazing that we've come so far in terms of eqality. we just elected a black president! even so, there is still a long ways to go until we are a perfectly equal, united country.