To sit through three hours of an opera, offers an experience that cannot be obtained in any way. The orchestra, powerful with unamplified voices, sets, costumes, and the opera house itself enables the audience to experience an impeccable journey. A grand experience, for not only the audience, but also the people who made the production possible. I believe this is largely due to the grandness of every element in the opera itself. In operas the the stories are big, consequences are huge, the emotions writ, sung and staged large. Overall, the experience once again is a grand and overwhelming one. This production, The Elixir of Love, managed to look and feel real, with real passion, real sorrow, real despair. .
There is a difference between attending an opera, and listening or watching pieces strung together in a recording of selections. In addition, it is another experience to hear the parts emerging from passages that you're not really paying attention to. If these pieces are heard outside the opera, they become less captivating. This is because the listeners can completely untether themselves from the music, enough to possibly miss the beautiful moments. However, at the opera house your mind can wander but you're never out of reach of those beautiful events that may capture and move you. .
Initially, I had anticipated certains types of modes and meters for the different acts, and characters. In Scene 1 Act 1, I expected the orchestra to present the audience with music of a major mode, and tempo that is not necessarily fast or upbeat, but pleasant. My opinion of a pleasant mode is one that is not overbearing but has a lot of consonance to help the audience's ears agree with the aria to come. Therefore, it often gives a good indicator to the audience of what to expect from the aria that is to be sung. .
As the stage lit up, the villagers expressed their joy after taking a break from their labor.