A night at that opera

Sarah loves the opera.  She asked me if I wanted to go watch an opera on the harbour with Lisa.  I had only ever been to the opera once years ago when I was backpacking in Austria.  I didn't enjoy it back then and I remember Chris and myself leaving after the first act.  There was a stuffiness to it all and following the story didn't help to make it more interesting.

It had been a long time though, and I admittedly enjoyed the "music" of opera, even if I didn't enjoy the performance of it so much.  On top of that, Sarah wanted to go to the open air opera which was held on Sydney harbour.  This seemed to be one of the great experiences of living in Sydney, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it.

On a nice warm evening, the three of us went out to the Botanic Gardens to watch the opera.  Most people were dressed casually, but there were some who decided to go very formal.  It added to the atmosphere and I was glad that for once, I wasn't one of the people dragging down the classiness of the place like I was back in Austria.

During my time in Sydney, I had spent almost no time in the Botanic Gardens.  It was always something that I intended on doing more, but just never got around to doing.  Being there at night was a bit surreal.  To be sitting there looking at the enormous stage, whilst having the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background didn't quite feel real.

Watching the show itself, I felt many of the same feelings that I did back in Austria return.  The music was lovely and I enjoyed it as much as I always did.  Sadly the whole package of opera is not something I enjoy all that much.  The acting was over the top and the sets, whilst impressive, didn't give me enough reason to stay interested.  There were subtitles displayed on screens for everyone so that we could follow the plot, and unsurprisingly the plot was ridiculous.  We were watching the opera "Aida".  A story about an Egyptian general fighting between his love for his country and Aida.  It all ends tragically (of course) and with pretty much everyone buried alive....

In our modern day of well written dramas and complex stories, I wonder whether it's simply the case that people in the past were a bit simpler in their tastes.  Would audiences in the past have found this silly story gripping and compelling or would they have seen this all as merely a "vessel" for the music, something to be tolerated for the true item of value?

Even without the story, it was good to be able to experience something different.  The music was indeed very enjoyable and I was able to look at Sydney is a very different light.