# My first night at the opera



## Troy (Apr 23, 2015)

I was 15 years old, and went with a group of eight other secondary school students accompanied by two teachers. It was a performance of Madam Butterfly which was the centrepiece of that years International Festival of the Arts (in Wellington, New Zealand).

It was only a dress rehearsal (tickets were offered to local secondary school students for $5), but I would never have known if I had not been told. The singers didn't seem to hold back anything, and I remember being totally immersed in the drama/music. There were projected surtitles but I hardly read them because what was happening onstage was so riveting.

Also you understand this was the first time I had even thought of going to an opera and I didn't know how Madam Butterfly ends. When I tell you that Butterfly's suicide at the end was intensely shocking for me and I had a little cry on the way home (in a van full of my classmates) you might have a little giggle.

This was a life-changing experience for me and some of my friends so when we got offered the same opportunity to see other operas we took them. I now go to see live opera whenever I can.

Now, a few questions. What was your first night (or day) at the opera like? How old were you? What opera was it? Was it the start of a life-long affair (with opera) or the only time you ever went? Do opera companies these days still offer this kind of opportunity as part of their outreach programs?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Before answering the questions, let me just express my great admiration for a scheme that allowed secondary school children the chance to go and see an opera.

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Nice story. There is a tendency for hard-core opera fans to forget how effective Madame Butterfly is as an involving drama. It's normal to see people wiping away tears at the end, opera fans and newcomers alike. The music is damn fine too.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Troy said:


> I was 15 years old, and went with a group of eight other secondary school students accompanied by two teachers. It was a performance of Madam Butterfly which was the centrepiece of that years International Festival of the Arts (in Wellington, New Zealand).
> 
> It was only a dress rehearsal (tickets were offered to local secondary school students for $5), but I would never have known if I had not been told. The singers didn't seem to hold back anything, and I remember being totally immersed in the drama/music. There were projected surtitles but I hardly read them because what was happening onstage was so riveting.
> 
> ...


What a great story and I agree with *The Conte*. A wonderful opportunity and I wish this happened more often.



Troy said:


> Now, a few questions. What was your first night (or day) at the opera like? How old were you? What opera was it? Was it the start of a life-long affair (with opera) or the only time you ever went? Do opera companies these days still offer this kind of opportunity as part of their outreach programs?


Discounting amateur productions of Gilbert & Sullivan opera to which I was dragged as a child (and hated), my first real opera experience was to see _La fille du régiment_ at ROH in 2010. It was this one.










It was life changing and I want to cram as many live performances as I can before I get _too_ old.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

My first opera was The Barber of Seville at ENO in 1988 when I was 28. I've always had a voracious musical appetite, and having worked my way through rock, pop, jazz, folk and 'world music', and dipped my toe into classical, it was simply a matter of time. Initially it was a cheap evening out in the gods of ENO when there was nothing else to do. However, it soon became a regular habit and a walk up the road to Covent Garden was inevitable. My fate was sealed!


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

sospiro said:


> What a great story and I agree with *The Conte*. A wonderful opportunity and I wish this happened more often.
> 
> Discounting amateur productions of Gilbert & Sullivan opera to which I was dragged as a child (and hated), my first real opera experience was to see _La fille du régiment_ at ROH in 2010. It was this one.
> 
> ...


Smashing performance


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

My first opera attendance was Lucia with Ruth Ann Swenson.
She was absolutely fantastic. One of the best I ever heard.
A friend gave me his tickers.
After that performance I subscribed for many years.


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## Troy (Apr 23, 2015)

Conte and Sospiro yes it was an awesome opportunity, and I just checked the New Zealand Opera website and they still offer dress rehearsal attendance to secondary school groups. I'm kind of sad I'm too old and I no longer live in NZ. 

Sospiro, Itullian and Don Fatale thanks for sharing your own first live opera experiences. Also Don Fatale, I've had a soft spot for Madam Butterfly ever since, although I've only seen it one more time live and of course the ending no longer shocks.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

It was 1994 and I was 9 years old when my parents took me to the Metropolitan Opera.
*Otello* by Verdi ; _Renée Fleming /Domingo_ .
I never forgot it, I can see the curtains going up , first the famous gould ones then the red ones .
I never opened my mouth once during singing but I had a little trill afterwards.
Hooked ever since.


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## Braddan (Aug 23, 2015)

As a student in the early 90s I joined an opera society which organised trips to see Scottish Opera productions. The first opera I actually saw was Die Walkure with Willard White and a young Jane Eaglen. The group consisted largely of lecturers who had the best seats while a handful of us were confined to the upper, outer reaches with restricted view. I was unfamiliar with Wagner at the time and I was so overwhelmed by the end of Act 1 that I made a dash outside for a quick sob. The president of the society got wind of this and offered to swap seats for the final Act. I have never forgotten this kind gesture from such a gentleman. I too admire any scheme that presents young people with the opportunity to experience this glorious art form.

Pugg - my first time at a major opera house was also _Otello_ with Renee _(Covent Garden 2005)_ but I was *considerably* older!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I can't remember for sure what my first opera was but I suspect that it must have been a San Francisco Opera performance of Das Rheingold some time in the late 1960's. Back then the SF Opera did a regular small season in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium, a monstrous place seating almost 6000 with atrocious acoustics. As a poor college student, I am sure that I sat at the very back in the nose-bleed section. I also had tickets for a Walkure the next night but I found the accommodations (i.e. crash pad) distasteful and the experience in the Shrine to be less than enjoyable that I went home instead rather than endure more! And no, I have no recollection of who sang & conducted.


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

I saw some arias on youtube 2 years ago, liked them. I searched for tickets, and bought Rigoletto tickets because the of the affordable ticket prices of Erkel Theatre. (My first ticket was about 1 euro without restristed view.) I'm a fan of opera ever since. I saw 50+ operas, some of them several times. (I saw Erkel's Bánk bán 6 times.)

I became a concert goer as well, our opera company holds 10 concerts a season.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Mine was at the tender age of 16. _The Consul_ came to town, not as an opera, but as a theatrical production and premiere on its way to Broadway where it won the Tony for best show. I became hooked and from there Mario Lanza's _The Great Caruso_ did the rest.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> My first opera was The Barber of Seville at ENO in 1988 when I was 28. I've always had a voracious musical appetite, and having worked my way through rock, pop, jazz, folk and 'world music', and dipped my toe into classical, it was simply a matter of time. Initially it was a cheap evening out in the gods of ENO when there was nothing else to do. However, it soon became a regular habit and a walk up the road to Covent Garden was inevitable. My fate was sealed!


I might have been there!

Not quite sure what year, say 1980 it was Tosca at the ENO where I took my Mum for a treat. I believe Linda Ester Gray was the Tosca when her reputation was growing. I had seen Led Zeppelin but the power of the Te Deum took my breath away. It took a few years to get University behind me, but eventually I bought a season ticket to the ENO at about £3.50 a ticket and saw the new Rigoletto (1982), Marriage of Figaro, Fidelio etc. Like Don Fatale I started to spend more time at the ROH but the habit of attending live Opera hasn't deserted me in over 30 years when many other things i used to enjoy no longer hold the same pull.

I realise I'm lucky living where I do but but if you've never been to a Live Opera .....there's still time to put that right!


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

Belowpar said:


> I had seen Led Zeppelin but the power of the Te Deum took my breath away.


I love this part too! I usually don't attend non-classical concerts since my first opera/concert.

I liked Dire Straits and Deep Purple, but now I prefer orchestras, and the tickets are much more affordable.


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2015)

Love at first sight did not transpire for me. I had been a regular classical concert-goer and convinced some friends to take advantage of an under-30 package where we had dinner + brief lecture before the performance (Rusalka at the COC in Toronto).

Our seats didn't provide a view of the surtitles; moreover, we had all had far too much wine at dinner. I'm quite sure one of my friends dozed off. Being new to opera, there were so many things I did incorrectly; these have now been corrected. 

Ironically I now quite enjoy Rusalka (especially the second act) and even snuck in some wine to the cinema when the Met had their live broadcast a couple of years back...


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

eldiego said:


> ...
> Ironically I now quite enjoy Rusalka (especially the second act) and even snuck in some wine to the cinema when the Met had their live broadcast a couple of years back...


Enjoying some wine during a cinema opera helps to make fine evening. The provincial opera houses in the UK seem quite happy for the audience to drink in their seats. Plastic glasses of course. I guess that's what happens when the venues are normally hosting comedians and the like.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Enjoying some wine during a cinema opera helps to make fine evening. The provincial opera houses in the UK seem quite happy for the audience to drink in their seats. Plastic glasses of course. I guess that's what happens when the venues are normally hosting comedians and the like.


I suppose "sneak" was an attempt to exaggerate my "badness"; simply "take" would be more appropriate as we do it all the time and never have a problem


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