a night at the opera

so i spent my presidents day at the opera with my dad and sister. it was really an amazing experience, the met is such an incredible hall, and the ensemble is always really dynamite. the sets were unbelievable, as well as the musicianship displayed by the orchestra. it was truly a great experience. anyway, without further ego-stroking, here is my formal analysis of the performance.

PERFORMANCE: “Otello” at the Metropolitan Opera House, February 18th, 2008

Otello is an excellent opera, well written, with a beautiful score and some of the best character development in all of the genre. Several progressive musical techniques, coupled with a strong libretto and depth of characters works strongly and effectively. The players of the Met deliver, of course, and capture the essence of each of the strong elements of Verdi’s classic opera.

The action begins immediately, without the use of an overture to establish and sort of preconception of the themes to come. This is a bold move, but effective, because it allows themes to develop with the action they correspond to in the opera. The orchestra uses a flurry of dynamics and color, plus a minor modality, to effectively represent the storm in the beginning of the opera as Otello approaches in his ship. This kind of orchestral dynamic range is a recurring element of the opera, with the orchestra really wailing on the angrier moments of Otello. The deceptions and pessimism of Iago receive quick, short, successive minor chord hits. Desdemona often receives a fluttering bright medley in the beginning, but quickly develops into a minor, darker modality of themes towards the end. Of course, the infamous ending is the best example of the Orchestra’s dynamic range. After Otello’s death, the Orchestra gets very quiet, leaving only a timpani roll and a few choice instruments to represent the slow, quiet passing of the two major characters (Otello and Desdemona). There are no major hits, and no loud, grand finishes. There is simply a soft fade out.

It is also important to mention that Verdi breaks conventions regarding the structure of recitative and aria, instead opting for a style where it is more ambiguous where one starts and the other stops. More attention is focused on the plot, which successfully develops its characters. This especially applies to Iago and Otello, who are full developed through the action, both to tragic ends.

META-CRITIQUE

It was extremely difficult to stay on a formal level, which I’m not even sure I successfully did, because there is SO MUCH to talk about beyond the mere musical motifs and character development. The libretto remains faithful to Shakespeare’s classic, minus the omission of Act I for smoother continuity, which is huge when talking about how well characters are developed (obviously due to Shakespeare, NOT to the librettist). Then again, the music may serve to further characterize as well, but I did not explore the sound-in-time or how certain themes evoke certain sympathetic emotions.

Another huge oversight is as follows: the quality of the performance rests heavily on the clout of the players, which I could not discuss in my analysis. I went in thinking that the tenor singing Otello was going to be sub-par (I had heard from my Dad, according to reviews, he was nothing special, at least as far as the Met was concerned). Also, I am a huge Renée Fleming fan, and to see her in one of Opera’s most demanding and timeless roles was such a treat, she must have shone incredibly bright regardless of the quality of the arias she sang. I wanted to talk about her and the connotations she brings with her presence, and her fan base, and the influence of other roles I’ve seen her play.

I could not talk about the history of the Opera, its distinguished former cast members, or the conditions in which it was written, all of which matter. Historically speaking, a comparison to the structure of Wagner opera’s could have shed some light on the effectiveness of breaking down structure to character development. A comparison to Verdi’s earlier operas as well could have shown how Otello truly is one of his most mature operas, and why. Instead, many of these possibly elaborations are left blank, and the formal analysis stands weakly on its own. To be fair everything I said has purpose and works, but it seems to be a little flat when compared to all of the possible roads of exploration regarding the work.