Tosca

Went to the Canadian Opera Company's production of Tosca and loved it!
As Eszter Zumegi was ill, Yannick-Muriel Noah stepped in and made her debut as Tosca. I'm not an opera expert, but I still think that she did an excellent job. The audience was very supportive and she seemed to be very well received by the group. It must have been such an amazing feeling for her. I'll be happy to follow this young artist and see where her career takes her.
The COC has special tickets available at a lower price for persons under the age of 30, so I decided to give it a try even though I knew that the seating would be limited to certain sections and availability. As I purchased my tickets within the first 5 minutes of this block of tickets being opened up, I thought that I would have a pretty good chance of getting the best seats of the section, so I was surprised when I ended up with one of the middle seats in the very last row of the house on the upper level. I figured this would be a good way to test my opinion of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Well, my seat had an unobstructed view of the orchestra pit and the entire stage, so from that regard, it was completely fine. If you're afraid of heights, this wouldn't be the best place to be, as the seating is quite pitched (as most opera houses are). My only complaint would be not being able to make out facial expressions of the performers, but that's to be expected of such a seat I suppose. The subtitles were projected above the stage, and I'm vaguely blind, so sometimes I couldn't read the text, but I would think that the average person wouldn't have a problem with it.
The Opera for a New Age tickets are a great deal compared to the price of a regular ticket - but again, you need to realize that you don't have access to any of the good seats. As much as I'm attending the show to appreciate the music, I really enjoy seeing the performance, so I personally would dish out the cash to get better seats.
The show was sold out, however I did see some no-shows and others that showed up after the first intermission.
Just like the National Ballet, there is a pre-talk about the production which I would highly recommend. It's always nice to get insight about the production regardless of how much you (think you) know about the piece.
The opera is also a great place to people watch. It's interesting to see the mixture of people that attend the opera, even if it is skewed a little bit from the average population. Being as superficial as I am (there has to be a better word to describe it), it's interesting to see how people interpret opera-appropriate attire. From those who must be season ticket holders, to those on a special date, a night out with friends, a "fancy" outing, a cultural event with the family, to those who believe that opera is accessible to all. I make no judgements about people (okay, maybe I do), I just find it really interesting. I particularly enjoy pocket-squares. Yum.
Intermission is always a chance to people watch, mingle and be seen. I don't know if I ever got around to writing about my experience watching Rigoletto in London but I was so intrigued to see people having meals during the intermission. I wasn't surprised by the champagne, wine and San Pellegrino being served in various rooms, but all of sudden plates of sandwiches, tables of full course meals and dessert settings appeared, each with names attached to them. Obviously pre-ordering is necessary and I would like to go on record to say THAT would be such a lovely evening out. I just never noticed it my first time watching the Royal Opera as I decided to hop across the street to Marks and Spencer and pick up a yummy treat.
Back to Toronto. The FSC is a beautiful location. It's beautiful on the inside and it's beautiful on the outside (looking inside) as well.
The opera itself was wonderful. Again, I know a little bit about operas, but my knowledge is rather limited, so I can't really comment on the quality of the production. I don't know how composers do it, but in every opera that I've studied/heard/seen there's at least one aria which just me all choked up. Even before the singer gets going...the orchestral introductions are already pulling me in.
Today also marked another snowstorm (yes, the last one was actually worthy of people freaking out...it just took awhile to get going) and after the opera, I got that fabulous happy feeling. I wanted to tell everyone around me how happy I was. I was smiling. I was making patterns in the snow with my Camper boots. The snow was so fluffy. I even walked to Nathan Phillips Square and stared and smiled. Anyone want to go skating sometime?
I secretly hope that I don't have to go to work tomorrow because I've got lots of other things that I can do instead. I suppose getting some sleep just in case I need to go in would be helpful.
Anyway, the message you want to take out of this post - opera = fantastic. Even if you're not a fan...try to go. If you're under 30, you've got a cheap seat waiting for you.