A few days after the Met’s live global transmission of Bellini’s I Puritani, Mary Katherine Jones, a viewer in Tromsø, Norway (and a doctoral student in Arctic History at the University of Tromsø), wrote in to share her thoughts on the experience. Here’s what she had to say…
This weekend, opera enthusiasts in Northern Norway flocked to a cinema several hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle to watch a satellite broadcast of The Metropolitan Opera production of Bellini’s I Puritani. The enjoyment may have been spiced by the knowledge that Verdensteatret in Tromsø was the only broadcast location in the whole country: folk from the big cities in the south of Norway would have to make a pilgrimage of nearly two hours’ flying time to share our pleasure.
Verdensteatret (the name means “the world’s theatre”) first opened as a cinema in 1916. The side walls of the auditorium are decorated with brightly-coloured friezes depicting Norwegian folk tales. The screen is framed by the original proscenium arch and the ambience of the venue is perfect for the Met broadcasts, complementing the splendour of the opera house interior in a way that few other cinemas can match. I doubt, though, whether audiences at the Met get to relish the faint, lingering scent of Haribo confectionery in their auditorium. Classy chocolates and a bunch of grapes did duty for the Grand Tier Restaurant during the intermissions, and opera dress incorporated snow boots and crampons (it’s really icy here at the moment).
So how was the opera? Others can doubtless offer more informed comment about various aspects of the production, but the singing in I Puritani was wonderful, the orchestral sound was gorgeous, the production looked great and from a technical point of view the broadcast was really impressive. The most exciting aspect, though, was the overall atmosphere – a real sense of being included in a Met event. We also had the bonus of interviews and explanations included in the broadcast between scenes and during the intervals (as well as our own pre-performance talk in Norwegian). As an interviewee, Beverly Sills was both hilarious and informative, and Renée Fleming was a sympathetic and accomplished interviewer. There was a preview of The First Emperor by Tan Dun, broadcast next week, which was fabulous in terms of both music and sheer theatre spectacle. Bellini’s opera was received enthusiastically, with the audience in Tromsø joining in the applause at the end of each act – though Norwegians are no match for Americans when it comes to post-aria pandemonium.
To avoid a $50 cab fare I walked an hour and a half home along the snow-covered coast road under a waning moon – and was that a flicker of northern lights? The prospect of attending the other satellite broadcast performances from the Met arouses an almost Ring Cycle level of anticipation. By the time I walk home after the satellite broadcast of Il Trittico at the end of April we shall be less than a month away from midnight sun and there will already be light in the sky all night long. For now, there are still a couple of weeks to go before the sun comes back over the horizon this far north, but culturally, it’s already been a bright start to 2007.
