Real opera experiences in Europe

I have always been involved in musical activities since I was a kid. Either it is a choir or an orchestra. My choir in high school and university somewhat led me to a more classical pieces that also brought me to have a private vocal course. Therefore, watching an opera from Europe in Europe is somewhat a thing to fancy since back then. Luckily in Prague, this city has tons of artistic events every week and all the theatres is always full by interesting programs. The crazy thing is that they really book the seat long time ago frim the actual show date. This really shows how the Czech people really love opera and enjoy it as a part of their daily lives, not as something heavy or like cold or serious. 

The first show that I wanted to watch was Little Mermaid ballet in Estates Theatre or Statovské Divadlo. It is located in Mustek area near the old town square. Here in Prague, you can easily find Uber, unlike in Enschede there is no Uber at all. It was rainy that day and the bus on weekends were super rare so we decided to take Uber which is only 250 czk for four of us. This theatre is important because it was where the first performance of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was performed back in the 1700s. Even the famous violinist Paganini also used to perform here. 

It was around 20 eur for the ticket because I chose the one with better view. However, my friends got around 10 to 15 eur but with poor view. When you go to their website https://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/cs you can choose your location and also see the notes from the website whether you have poor visibility from that seat or not. The one in the ground floor and facing the stage directlyw as actually the most expensive ones. People wear formal attire here and the interior of the theatre is indeed amazing. Unlike Opera Garnier Paris which is dominated by red velvet wall, here it is dusty blue. They also had a buffet center where you can eat and socialize. Then, I went to the 3rd floor where my chamber is and everything was well managed and guided with the officers. In my chamber, I shared my place with other 2 person and mine is a bit behind them and I need to tilt my head for the whole show. 

Little mermaid ballet was inspired by the tale written by Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who dreamt of living on the land. However, to be able to do that and reunited with her dream prince, she needed to trade it with her voice and her life. In this adapted version, at the end, the prince chose another girl and I personally loved the wicked witch better than the Mermaid herself. To be honest, the story was a bit hard to follow but the coreography, the costumes, the make up, the stage decoration and transition was amazing. It feels like you are truly below the ocean. We had an intermission after 1.5h of show. It was in total 2 hours. The ending was the mermaid suffocated and suspensed in a huge white curtains. You can see this in the poster and this part was truly amazing. I can see the euphoria of the audiences and how really appreciate them. 

The second show I watched it alone. It was Carmen, this time. The gipsy girl, Carmen, was in love with Don José but killed by him at the end thanks to his jealousy because she was also involved by a torero whose name is Escamillo, and who sings Torreador song. The opening was taken in the prison setting and they use a quite big choir. However, no matter how crazy the stamine of Carmen in the whole 3 hours, Don José's voice was the best in the whole show. L'amour est un oiseau rebelle and the Toreadorre song was the best list of the songs. If you want to start listening and learn a little bit of opera music, I think you would probably like those two. Eventhough it was written by a french playwrights and the songs were composed by George Bizet, the setting was actually happened in Seville, Spain. It was played by Czech artists but in french. So they have this tiny box at the top of the stage to show you the subtitle in both Czech and english. I can say that all the singers in the main role really are good opera singers and it must have required crazy stamina to really sing all the songs in the complete four acts. The staging was also nice with a scene where they were living the town and when Carmen sang in a pub with a nice neon light. The prison part was also a nice way to set up a prison in a three dimesional point of view. 

Fortunately, this time I can experienced the National theatre of Prague which is Národní divadlo. From the outside you can already see its majesty and the golden crown on top of the whole building. During the intermission, you can enjoy the view of Vltava river in the sunset time and the busy café called Kavarna Slavia just opposite the theatre. Both the theatre and the famous café is located in a big intersection. It was such a beautiful evening. For both performances I mentioned above, we were not allowed to take any pictures or recorded anything during the show. In Národní divadlo, in contrary, I could spot more international audiences than the one in the Little Mermaid show. The only bad thing is now I chose the good seat facing the stage directly in the toppest chamber of the theatre but if someone needs to go in or out your row then everyone should literally stand up. It was quite annoying and funny how long you have to stand up just to wait for people to come or go out to the toilet. A good tips is do not forget to have an early dinner, because relly starving for 3 hours listening to opera music might lead to headache! 

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