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A new tradition?
So, there's this opera company in Boston (a city remarkably lacking in opera, given the rest of its cultural scene), called the Boston Lyric Opera. I'd never been to one of their performances before tonight.
This year, they decided to do two free performances of Bizet's Carmen, outdoors, in English, on a stage set up on the Boston Common (a big park in the middle of the city). Tonight was the first performance, and it was excellent -- some fine voices, mostly local professionals, some of whom I think have promising careers ahead of them (many are young, in opera terms at least). From where we were, it was a good thing they had video screens set up, because you couldn't see the stage too well.
Because there were sixty thousand people there.
No, that's not a typo. They estimated the crowd at 60,000. You expect those numbers for a sports event (except at, say, Fenway Park, which only holds about 35,000), but for opera?
If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I bet there will be even more people there, between word of mouth and what I strongly expect will be very positive media coverage. If you're in Boston, I very much encourage you to go; it's wonderful music, well sung, and a great experience to be part of.
Sixty thousand people. I wonder what the largest audience ever for an opera performance was?
This year, they decided to do two free performances of Bizet's Carmen, outdoors, in English, on a stage set up on the Boston Common (a big park in the middle of the city). Tonight was the first performance, and it was excellent -- some fine voices, mostly local professionals, some of whom I think have promising careers ahead of them (many are young, in opera terms at least). From where we were, it was a good thing they had video screens set up, because you couldn't see the stage too well.
Because there were sixty thousand people there.
No, that's not a typo. They estimated the crowd at 60,000. You expect those numbers for a sports event (except at, say, Fenway Park, which only holds about 35,000), but for opera?
If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I bet there will be even more people there, between word of mouth and what I strongly expect will be very positive media coverage. If you're in Boston, I very much encourage you to go; it's wonderful music, well sung, and a great experience to be part of.
Sixty thousand people. I wonder what the largest audience ever for an opera performance was?