See an opera

“I wasn’t sure what the quality of the performance would be, but the singing, the level of talent, the sets and costumes were phenomenal. And having never been to an opera before, I was surprised by what an experience it was — I’d expected it would be more like what you see in the movies: just someone on the edge of the stage, singing out to the audience. But I didn’t feel like I was just sitting back watching a show, I felt like I was in the show.”

“Excited by the opera fan chatter in the Marlowe hallways, I took my seat in the circle at 7pm with a spectacular view of the stage. The entire performance was to be in Italian and I was in perfect view of the subtitles board if I needed them. The performance started at 7:15pm and the awakening of the opera sound across the theatre instantly made me whisper “wow”. To think that these performers could produce impressive volume without amplification was an alien concept to me. From the first musical bar, L’elisir d’amore instantly transported me back to 1940s Italy and enticed me into the world of opera.”

“This was my first time seeing a live performance. I've watched 13 operas so far including Rigoletto so I knew Rigoletto was explicit, but seeing it in person not a recording was something else. The audience were 80% pensioners and not batting an eyelid it was a strange experience. At one point a girl stuck her hand down the Duke's pants to check whether he was prepared to sleep with Ceprano's wife, sniffs it, nods, and walks off like it was completely normal.”