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At the Teatro Malibran. Venice, Italy

Last week my friend offered me a ticket to Die Walkure at the Met. While I'm not a fan of the new production, I am a fan of the music and I took the offer. She had never before been to the opera, and she had invited me to be her guide. I told her that I wouldn't necessarily start with a Wagner opera, but the tickets had presented themselves to her and her husband had enjoyed the first two operas of the Ring cycle; she thought she would give it a try. At the very least, I told her, Die Walkure had at least one recognizeable hit tune.

In Venice, I had hoped to catch an opera at the Teatro la Fenice, but none were scheduled on the dates I was there. Instead, I had to content myself with The Barber of Seville at the nearby Teatro Malibran. While opera buffa isn't generally my opera genre of choice, the production was fun and engaging even if I couldn't make out all the intricacies of the plot (the opera was sung in Italian with Italian super titles; during the interval I raced outside to find free wifi so that I could download a synopsis).

Before the opera began, the theater rose as the orchestra played the national anthem; the audience sang to great effect. I remembered the first time I had encountered this.

It was my first solo trip oversesas. I had travelled to Taiwan to participate in the Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour (commonly referred to as "Love Boat") and my cousin had offered to take me to a movie during one of our weekends off. She asked me what I wanted to see and I told her a Chinese movie. She looked disappointed; she had hoped to catch the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

She looked through the paper and we ended up seeing He's a Woman, She's a Man, a romantic comedy starring Leslie Cheung. As the lights went down she bade me stand. I was confused but followed suit as the rest of the audience rose for the national anthem. We then took our seats and the film began.

Comments (7)

Nice shot of the theater patrons. They all seem quite occupied.

Posted by buntagphoto on 06 Jun 2012, 2.32 AM

Really nice photo.

Posted by Orange County Photographer on 05 Aug 2012, 7.07 PM

As an industrial photographer in Mumbai; India, I really liked your composition and style of photography. Keep up the good work.

Posted by Industrial Photographer on 19 Nov 2012, 10.26 PM

very great tips here http://tinyurl.com/d77c7fx

Posted by chris doyle on 14 Dec 2012, 4.20 AM

Nice capture and composition.

Posted by sayrue on 03 Jan 2013, 12.14 PM

Standing for the national anthem in the movies - something I'll also need to remember when travelling to Thailand, apparently

Posted by Mathias (Fotografie MD) on 06 Jan 2013, 9.50 AM

You really capture the atmosphere of the room. Great work

Posted by Magenta on 18 Nov 2014, 8.20 PM

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Posted 14 May 2012   |   Photography + design © Eugene Kuo // 226.