See an opera at La Scala in Milan

“Neither my husband nor I had ever seen an opera before, so we had no idea what to expect. Honestly, I kind of get bored during classical concerts, so I had expected to get sleepy at some point. Especially since this was going to be a 3 hour and 15-minute performance – with only one intermission. But boy, was I wrong. We absolutely loved it. We laughed, we swooned, I cried. The whole spectacle was simply stunning. The sumptuous costumes, the rich and colorful sets, and the sheer talent from these performers. They sang their hearts out on stage as they always did in the past – without the aid of a microphone. The acoustics were near perfect, and the whole experience was a treat for the senses.”

“And the surprises, we weren’t expecting those. Not one, but two strip scenes!? In an opera from 1775? Who knew they were so racy and funny back then? By the end of Act II, the performers went mad and completely destroyed their beautiful set. After which my husband turned to me and said, “who knew opera was so metal?!” Oddly, what really made the experience awesome, were the monitors in the seat backs in front of us. They were translating everything that was being said/ sung into English – so we were actually able to understand what was going on! Without that, it may have been a tad confusing, but still very entertaining.”

“The opera at Teatro alla Scala was quite an experience. The the orchestra was impeccable, as well as the performers. One thing that amazed me was that prior to the start of the performance, as the lights slowly went down the whole theater hushed – completely quiet. There were no cell phones on, you could tell because the theater was very dark and you can typically see the glow of a cell phone if it’s on and being used. If live music (such as rock or blues) feeds on audience participation and feedback, then opera is quite opposite I found the audience to be very respectful.”