"Aida" at the ballpark.
Sep. 25th, 2010 11:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
duccioLast night djaza and I went into SF to see Verdi's Aida at AT&T Park. It was a free simulcast on the ballpark jumbotron. 3,000 people were in attendance at the Opera House, while the announcer at the stadium said there were 32,000 people there. Here are two articles about this.
http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/2010/09/aida-at-ballpark.html
http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/2010/09/san-francisco-opera-opening-2010.html
I took a lot of pics, but the ones in the first article show what was happening pretty well. We had a good time, and I pretty much agree with what the reviewer said about the singing, but I liked the "silly" production. (One wonders if this was the reviewer's first opera experience if he just now noticed the silly.)
During the triumphal scene they had an acrobatics display by a troop that must have been from Cirque du Soleil. The videography has really improved and I think I would prefer now to always see Opera in the ballpark rather than in the Opera House; the communal spirit was wonderful. The sound was very good but boomy sometimes, and a bit loud when Aida let loose with an occasional triple forte.
The blue jean'd crowd
arriving via public transit and on foot, surrounding the ballpark.
Ritorna Vincitor!
It was a perfect warm and beautiful, fogless night with a near full moon watching us from above the jumbotron.
What will happen
to poor lovelorn Aida, la sciava?
The fans.
They applauded after the arias and ensembles, after the Acts and the curtain calls, just as enthusiastically as at the Opera House.
The two best singers:
Amonasro, father of Aida, King of Ethiopia.
Amneris, jealous daughter of Pharoah.
Remorse... Pace. Pace. Pace.
Fin dell'Opera.
http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/2010/09/aida-at-ballpark.html
http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/2010/09/san-francisco-opera-opening-2010.html
I took a lot of pics, but the ones in the first article show what was happening pretty well. We had a good time, and I pretty much agree with what the reviewer said about the singing, but I liked the "silly" production. (One wonders if this was the reviewer's first opera experience if he just now noticed the silly.)
During the triumphal scene they had an acrobatics display by a troop that must have been from Cirque du Soleil. The videography has really improved and I think I would prefer now to always see Opera in the ballpark rather than in the Opera House; the communal spirit was wonderful. The sound was very good but boomy sometimes, and a bit loud when Aida let loose with an occasional triple forte.
The blue jean'd crowd
arriving via public transit and on foot, surrounding the ballpark.
Ritorna Vincitor!
It was a perfect warm and beautiful, fogless night with a near full moon watching us from above the jumbotron.
What will happen
to poor lovelorn Aida, la sciava?
The fans.
They applauded after the arias and ensembles, after the Acts and the curtain calls, just as enthusiastically as at the Opera House.
The two best singers:
Amonasro, father of Aida, King of Ethiopia.
Amneris, jealous daughter of Pharoah.
Remorse... Pace. Pace. Pace.
Fin dell'Opera.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-26 05:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-26 06:18 am (UTC)You pre register on line, and print out a barcoded form which you take to the ball park for admission. The preregistering puts you on their email list for notices about half price tickets and other occasional news. Here is the SF Opera website:
http://sfopera.com/
Hurrah for opera
Date: 2010-09-26 05:16 pm (UTC)I went to the opera in SF last year and loved it. We had the cheap seats but were able to see the whole thing better than most because of the video projection screens. Turned out the performance was the same day as the gay pride parade, quite a different kind of theater.
Re: Hurrah for opera
Date: 2010-09-26 05:27 pm (UTC)that is for certain sure... however it is equally certain that each influences the other, and in most wonderful ways, too.