Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Falstaff Opera
This is a bit late, but on Friday, May 4, I went to see Falstaff with some of my fellow scholars. I have to admit, I'm usually not the biggest opera fan. This time, though, I was laughing and enjoying myself for all 2 and a half hours. The opera, which was in Italian, tells the story of Sir John Falstaff (played by Todd Thomas), who can been seen as somewhat of a drunken womanizer. He runs out of money and decides to seduce two wealthy women, Alice Page and Meg Ford. They both find out about the other and decide to trick Falstaff into humiliating himself, which they do quite well. The ending was sort of strange, with lots of dancing in fairy costumes and monks and witches. It's the sort of performance that you would just have to see for yourself to fully understand. In any case, I enjoyed it!
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I also attended the Falstaff Opera with my little sister during Sibs weekend! I had never been to an opera performance before but we both really enjoyed it. It was quite funny and very well done. It was definitely cool to experience!
ReplyDeleteI went with Gwen to see Falstaff as well and I agree when she says it was a performance to have to see for yourself in order to believe or understand. Before this night I had never seen an opera of any sorts, so I was pleasantly surprised when the performers began singing in Italian along with their boisterous actions onstaqe. I wasn't familiar with the story of the opera beforehand, so it was quite intriguing to follow the storyline and watch as Falstaff's plan to woo both Alice and Meg slowly unraveled. In the end, it didn't matter that the performers were speaking another language and that I came to the opera with no previous knowledge of the story onstage: I had a great time and I would definitely recommend the experience to others!
ReplyDeleteThe Falstaff Opera was a delight. Before Gwen, Heather, Bethany, Holly, and I sat down a woman remarked that "It's so lovely to see young ladies attending the Opera". It made me think, and a lot of cultural phenomenons such as theatre, ballet, opera, etc seems to be replaced by television, laptops, and other form of entertainment. Falstaff was officially my first opera, but my Mom and I have attended plays and ballets since I was a little girl. It made me realize that Humanities Scholars can give us the opportunity to explore our cultural facets and I was glad for it. Overall the Opera was well done, humorous and beautiful to listen to and watch.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend performing in the Opera, so it was really nice to see him perform. I went with Gwen, Heather, Anna, and Holly as well, and it was so nice to sit close to the stage and see the performers. I was also very happy because it coincided with the content I was learning in class -- the opera is based off of Merry Wives of Windsor, which I had just read in my Shakespeare class, and it was all in Italian, so I understood a portion of it without looking at the monitor. It was such a lovely interpretation of Verdi, and I even got to meet the lead baritone the next day for coffee (it helps to have friends pulls strings).
ReplyDeleteFalstaff was the very first opera that I went to see! And I can't wait to see more. It was especially interesting because at the time I went to go see it I was learning about Giuseppe Verdi (the composer of the show) in my International Studies class. We talked a lot about how cultured things like opera built unity amongst people. As I sat and watched the performance, I couldn't help but agree with that philosophy. My friends and I laughed and cheered together with the rest of the audience as we related to the humanity of the characters. I can see how in earlier times going to the opera was THE thing to do. I hope OSU puts on more shows like Falstaff, because I would love to see more!
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