March 4, 2020
The Gazette was generously gifted tickets to see The Met: Live in HD to enjoy an outstanding performance of Agrippina. This opera is 300 years old but the current production updates it to now. The cast, music, staging and direction are all top notch and, this being the Met, the singing is amazing. Tech and stage combos don’t always work and sometimes huge videos can distract from experiencing the live performance you came to see. This series is an instance where it really does work. Say you’re unable to attend the performance at Lincoln Center. Maybe it’s sold out or you’re out of town and just can’t be there. Live in HD provides another opportunity to catch the show almost wherever you are.
Since you’re not watching the performance in person and on a screen, viewing it on a big one here isn’t a bit distracting. In fact, it adds something to the experience. While nothing beats orch seats on the aisle for live theater, even in the best seats you’ll experience the whole show from that single vantage point. With Live in HD you’ll see a performance from a variety of perspectives: wide, tight, and so on like you would in a movie, only it’s live. They deploy nearly a dozen cameras and switching them around in real time must be daunting. And as if that weren’t enough to justify going to an opera in a movie theater consider how different an intermission feels. Instead of just running to the john, guzzling a quick drink or popping outside for a hurried smoke, you can watch backstage activity as crews touch up a spot of paint here, tune a really beautiful looking piano there, move props around, practice a role (a ‘bartender’ juggles bottles), and even brief, informal interviews with some cast members stepping out of character momentarily . It was incredible.
And even though the cast of Agrippina was performing the show a mile away from the AMC theater on 42nd Street where we saw this, the audience in the movie theater carried on as if they were watching in the Met Opera House. They arrived on time, kept their phones on silent or vibrate (except for one person, grrr) and applauded appreciatively after each scene. Highest recommendation: 5 Stars.
