(For non Russian readers the title: Night at the Opera)
Tonight was we went to the 3rd and final show of the semester, the opera Brothers Karamazov based on the novel by Dostoevsky. I was quite impressed by the show. The singing was top notch, the orchestra was very good and well synced with the actions on stage, and the stage very well set up for the show. It was a modern arraignment of the 19th century story about Feodor Karamazov and his estranged sons or as the program put it “a mystery opera in 2 parts”. But I love the fact that I saw a Russian opera, written by a Russian, based on a Russian novel, with Russian actors, in Russian, in Russia!
The main action took place on a stage with a 4 sided revolving building with different sets on each face. When a scene changed settings instead of dropping the curtain and resetting it, all that happened was the sets rotated as the singing and action continued. While the singing was in Russian, and as anyone who has seen opera before can attest to this, it is basically impossible to hear every word said even if one speaks the language fluently. Thankfully I finished reading the novel Brothers Karamazov a few weeks back, bought a program and also was able to read the provided subtitles so I understood what was going on. However some of my fellow students had a hard time following the plot, and I can see their point. The subtitle system worked fairly well, there is a screen suspended above the stage which showed 2 lines of text at a time, and while not an exact translation of the script, it gave the gist of the lines being sung on stage.
Some of the translations where quite funny to see, both occasionally because of bad translations (and if I notice it with my limited Russian it must be!) and just to see absurd lines in print. My favorite line to read on the screen was “I despise epileptics and prophets.”
I also remembered to bring my camera this time to the gorgeous Mariinsky Theater and took some pictures of the inside. These pictures do not do it justice (the lighting inside is really weird) but here they are anyways to get a general idea of its layout. For this show we had orchestra level seating on old fashioned wooden chairs on the very gently sloped orchestra level and for the ballet I was seated on the 3rd level in the middle. However there are very few bad seats in that theater and amazing acoustics for everyone (no amplification needed for the opera singers, chorus or orchestra!)
As always a comment about the weather is well in order. When we left for the show it was 0 degrees outside. This is by far the coldest temperature I have ever felt (until Wednesday morning as i post this it is -6 outside) and I do not have the means to express how cold this is and how it feels. Additionally we have had snow in some form every day for 9 days in a row now, and the snow on the ground and everywhere else is here to stay until well after I leave. Thankfully it will be getting warmer next week (back to the 20s!) but I will be below freezing the rest of my time here.
Of additional note, the Neva River, which St. Petersburg was built around, has started to freeze. Right now it is covered by a patchwork of broken slabs of ice and liquid water is still visible in places, but within a few weeks it will be frozen solid and suitable for walking or even driving on. Here is what it looks like from a moving bus at night (well 5:20 pm but here that’s as good as midnight here):
I now only have 2 more Russian classes and 2 more history classes and my learning here will be complete. I will have verbal and written Russian finals plus 2 history essay tests next week and that will complete my time here. There are only 2 activities left for us now, on Saturday we will go to Pushkin palace and park and on our last Thursday we are going to dinner and then bowling as a celebration for the end of finals and last hours in Russia.
I have now seen my 5th different Russia from the end of August to beginning of December. Sp far I have not really felt homesick or an intense desire to get out of Russia while here, but I am now ready to come home. But I miss everyone and many things back in SoCal and look forward to seeing and sharing stories and mementos of my time here with all of you!
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