Attending the Staatsoper's performance of Un ballo en maschera was an absolutely amazing experience.
First of all, I was in standing room (Stehplatz). It cost me 4 euro. You file in, and are very very close to one another. There are bars to rest your arms on if you get tired. There are tiny screens every other person, connected to the bar, on which subtitles are played (either in German or English).
There were two 15 minute intermissions- between the first and second act, and between the second and third. It was really good they did that because I would have fallen down dead if I couldn't have sat on the ground!!
Between acts the lead singers would come out for a curtain call! It was insane! And the audience was wonderful. There were lots of "Bravo"s when people really liked certain arias-- which is something I am not used to. And everyone paid very good attention to what was going on, and definitely, you could tell that the applause was sincere. My favorite character, Oscar, was a phenomenal soprano with great agility (well, I would classify her as a soprano. Whether or not that role is supposed to be played by a mezzo or soprano, I do not know). And the audience clapped and whooted and hollered for her!
The leading tenor was Ramon Vargas! Who apparently sang with Renee Flemming at the Met's Gala sometime in the fall. That night (Saturday the 1st of February, 2009) was his debut in the role of King Friedrich III (at least, I THINK that was his character's name). He cracked on one of his notes as he was dying, and it was funny to see the surprised look on his face when it happened- but it was great. He kept singing- and was amazing. But the baritone, Renato, who kills him- he was my favorite male voice. I was very impressed with the male roles in this show.
As for the actual plot and story- it didn't do much for me. But Verdi does write beautiful music. Amelia has some killer arias.
The Staatsoper itself is a very beautiful building. It was destroyed during WWII due to bombings, but then was rebuilt and re-opened for shows in 1955.
Afterward, all 10 of us went to the Mozart Cafe, which is right behind the Staatsoper for dessert. I ordered a cream cheese dumpling dessert with raspberry sauce! It was sehr gut! It was fun to sit and talk with my friends and see what they thought of the opera. They are so fun.
Click HERE for more pictures of the evening.
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