First Time at the Opera

Opera - it's never really appealed to me, I guess you could say that I'm a little bit more Taylor Swift than I am Plácido Domingo, but I always like to try new things so when my mum asked me on Friday if I was interested in going to see Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House this weekend, I was all like 'um....YES'.

Pretty decent view!

Even though I've never been an opera fan, I would have been a fool to pass up this operatic experience, plus how do you really know that you don't like opera if you've never actually experienced going to one - it's like this one time I decided to try beetroot even though for years I'd claimed that I didn't like it so I forced myself to try it and as it turns out, beetroot's not so bad, so now I have an extra component when I make salads (which I almost never make).  I feel like my point's been lost somewhere in this brief interlude.  I think that what I am trying to say is that beetroot, or in this case, opera, needed to be tried in order to actually assess whether I disliked or liked it. 



Fancy!

Before the opera, my mum gave me some pre-Rigoletto reading to do, yep, that's right, this trip came with homework (she nearly lost me at this point) but I persevered and did my reading.  As it turns out, the reading was pretty useful as it was a somewhat detailed (we're talking double-sided pages here) synopsis of what occurs in each act.  Seeing as the opera is sung in Italian, this pre-reading meant that I had more of an idea of what was happening on stage and even though there were subtitles on a screen throughout, it helped to have some knowledge of what was going on so that I didn't have to rely too heavily on the subtitles. 

Mini 'Alice in Wonderland' ballet figurine display at the Royal Opera House

 *SPOILER ALERT*
In relation to the plot, Rigoletto is about a Duke who likes the ladies.  A lot.  Probably too much.  To simplify the story, the lady-loving Duke, aka the Duke of Mantua, has his wicked way with a Count's daughter at an orgy (you haven't lived until you've seen an operatic staged orgy and some casual full-frontal nudity - which I missed because I was focussing too intently on the subtitles.  I'm beyond disappointed in myself.) and the court jester, Rigoletto, mocks this and gets cursed by the Count (bit extreme but who am I to judge, I've just watched a bunch of opera singers act out an orgy).  This curse results in Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda, falling in love with the Duke of Mantua after he seduces her, Rigoletto arranging for the Duke to be assassinated and Gilda sacrificing her life in the place of the Duke's.  Rigoletto then discovers that the 'assassinated Duke' is in fact his daughter when he uncovers the corpse and holds his daughter in his arms as she dies.  So, as you can see, it was a really upbeat storyline. 

Left: Mini 'The Tsarina's Slippers' figurine display at the Royal Opera House
Right: Mini 'L'heure espagnole' figurine display at the Royal Opera House

Now that I've explained the plot, I will admit the following: yes, I did fall asleep briefly in the first act but it was probably for no more than thirty seconds and, yes,  I definitely needed an ice cream in the interval to wake me up but I did stay fully conscious throughout the second act and, yes, I did actually, really enjoy it.  I would definitely go and see another opera again although I would probably have some form of caffeine beforehand.  However, I think that part of what made going to see Rigoletto so enjoyable was the whole experience of being at the Royal Opera House, acting all fancy-pants and feeling incredibly cultured and sophisticated (pretty ironic seeing as the night before I'd set up a series link for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills - well, I can't be cultured and sophisticated all the time, it'd be exhausting!).  As much as I enjoyed Rigoletto, I don't think that I would enjoy watching opera on TV as you don't get to experience the atmosphere in the same way that you would if you were actually right there, sitting in the stalls.  I also don't think that I will be adding any opera soundtracks to my iPod anytime soon because, at the end of the day, I am still the girl that likes Taylor Swift and has The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on series link, BUT, I would most definitely go to another opera again and would encourage anyone else to give it a go, after all, you never know, it might be your beetroot*! 

*Refer to the second paragraph for the 'beetroot' comment to make any real sense!