Last night, my husband and I put on our fancy pants and headed to the Opera. The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, New York City to be exact. I know–first Foxwoods, now this. Smoke-filled casinos in Connecticut, to dinner and the opera at Lincoln Center. That’s how we roll. [I haven’t previously mentioned this, but our March outings are in celebration of my husband’s 40th birthday, which takes place officially tomorrow.]
Our date last night was our 4th Annual Opera Outing, this time to see Otello. In years past, we’ve seen Rigoletto, Romeo and Juliet, and La Traviata. We like to go in March around his birthday or in April, as the weather gets nicer and opera season is underway. We drive into Manhattan and have a nice dinner, then go to the performance. Usually we go on a weekend, but this year we decided on a mid-week trip (Translation: I waited too long to get our tickets and Wednesday night turned out to be our best option. Husband is a teacher on spring break this week, so the timing worked out. Phew!).
The mid-week opera excursion was quite pleasant. The restaurants around Lincoln Center were busy but not crazy, and the crowd seemed more of the after-work local crowd than the tourist crowd. Also, security at Lincoln Center was lax, and I mean this in a good way. Last year on a Saturday night, a security guard scolded me for taking pictures in the Opera House with my phone; however, this year people were snapping photos left and right without consequence. I assume this was permitted because it was mid-week– maybe less security guards milling around. Feeling a bit criminal, I joined in and attach my pictures below.
Have you been to the opera? Any opera fans out there? It seems people either love it or hate it, but if you get the opportunity, I highly recommend shelling out the cash and experiencing Lincoln Center and The Met at least once in your life.
Practically, it’s super easy. You can park underneath the building (I think we paid about $30 to park), and the Met’s Website is fairly user-friendly. Our favorite feature on the website is the ability to pick your seat from a seating chart of the theater. We make sure to pick aisle seats for husband’s long legs, and so we can dart out at the end during the applause in order to beat traffic out of the lot (classy, right?).
Also, in front of every seat is a tiny screen which can be seen only by you, which they call “Met Titles” where you can read the text of the opera during the performance. It’s subtle and not distracting. I tried to take a picture for you, but it’s hard to see. I’ll attach it anyway.
Besides those practical aspects of an opera outing, creatively, of course, it’s amazing. I don’t know much about music or voice or opera, but I love hearing a soprano voice that is so beautiful and perfect that it sounds like it must be from an instrument instead of a person. The tenors and baritones are strong and powerful. Obviously the music is lovely, and watching the orchestra is also interesting. Whether experienced in opera and music or not, you’ll see, and feel in your gut that you are listening and watching something special. The best in the world perform at The Met. If you get the opportunity, it’s worth the trip.
Here are some pics from our NY date:
Thanks for reading!
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