At curtain, I’ll fake Manhattan
On a recent Saturday I got up early to run an errand and made it back in plenty of time to hit the opera at the Metropolitan in New York City.
Instead of traveling thousands of miles east, I headed up U.S. 93 to the Signature Stadium 14 movie theater. It was 9:45 a.m.
Flathead Valley opera fans have it pretty good. Glacier Symphony sometimes offers concert versions of operas, and venues in Kalispell and Whitefish show “The Met in HD” program, a series of performances beamed live from New York into our burgs.
The featured production, Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” runs nearly five hours, with two intermissions. I prepared accordingly. I tucked a pillow under my arm. I wore my workout clothes in case I felt like going for a run.
In the theater, the illusion kicked in as the broadcast delivered the tuning of the instruments while New Yorkers filed in to their seats and the crowd murmured in anticipation.
Kalispell opera fans kept coming, too. About 20 of us settled in comfy seats with straight sightlines to the action. Christopher Maltman, the onscreen host, provided a brief introduction from backstage, which hummed with preshow activity.
Then someone with a headset said, “Maestro to the pit, please,” and the camera took in conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin from seemingly a few feet away. We saw the cues of his eyebrows, the flash of the stud in his ear and his shimmering gold nail polish as he took up the baton.
The most performed Wagner opera by the Met — it was staged in the institution’s inaugural season, in 1883 — this production of “Lohengrin” went all out with top-notch talent, costuming and a massive industrial “cosmic sky element” as a backdrop.
From the miles of silk for 130 chorister costumes, the flash of finely made swords and the robust synthesis of lyrics and music, the production made a feast for the senses. Within 20 minutes, we were firmly on the trail of a whodunit and transfixed by a mysterious guy who rode in on a swan.
My plan to go running at intermission failed because I couldn’t tear myself away.
The camera captured the backstage army of technicians moving props around, connecting cables and yanking pieces of a sculptural tree into place. They made a symphony of casters rolling, the snapping of latches and hollering in New York accents. Maltman interviewed singers fresh from the stage as they mopped their brows, hinted at what would come next and divulged what they did to decompress between acts (video golf for one).
During a popcorn run I chatted with Kalispell opera fans Lois and Carol, who said, “We try to go to them all. This one’s a big deal for the staging.” I took a nap in the second act; dozens of performers sang me to sleep. Then it was off to more intrigue and arias.
“It’s better than live,” said Judy Cox, a neighboring theatergoer, as we packed up after the last bow. “But sometimes it’s too close” as she likes to see all the action. She and her husband, Bill, were set to travel to New York soon to attend the next Met production in person.
Here and there, we meet in music.
Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.