When exposed as the principal singers are at a Met HD broadcast, their physical appeal (or lack of appeal) can detract from the artistic experience. The physical appearance of opera singers is (or certainly should be) subordinate to their skills as artists. Opera singers can be but usually are not, as physically attractive as film or television actors. Especially in a production as large-scaled as Zeffirelli’s Turandot at the Met, the intimacy of the obsessive close-ups is jarring. Even on a big screen and in HD, the action feels much more in the nature of a televised production on PBS.
The intimacy that is key to the film experience is alien to the theater-goer’s experience in the opera house. Opera is melodramatic and scaled to be presented at a distance on a large stage.
Instead, the direction of the Met’s HD broadcasts is much more intimate, with an almost claustrophobic obsession with close-ups of the principals. The big-screen presentation has much more the feel of a film screening than a live performance in the opera house.Īt a massive house like the Met, in particular, the sense of distance that is an integral part of the opera experience is compressed by HD. Even at a lovely venue like the restored Paramount Theater here in Charlottesville, the sense of occasion that attends a live performance in the house is largely lacking. The Met insists on venues having appropriate receiving equipment, both video and audio, to receive its HD transmissions.įor many viewers who cannot or do not attend live opera performances on-stage (either at the Met or elsewhere), these HD broadcasts are an attractive, relatively low-cost opportunity to see opera as presented by one of the world’s great opera companies.įor opera lovers who attend live opera in the opera house more frequently than occasionally, however, the Met’s HD broadcasts may have only limited appeal. These live offerings supplement the Met’s radio broadcasts, which have been a mainstay of the Met’s outreach for over 60 years. The Met is offering an attractive schedule of its productions via satellite to viewers at remote locations around the globe.
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