I went to the Met's production of The Damnation of Faust at the City Center in White Plains yesterday. This was the second opera I've seen; the first was Boris Godunov seen live at the Met.
They project the opera onto a theater movie screen using HD digital video. I may have seen some HD video elsewhere, March of the Penguins?, but I was impressed with what I saw. The staging, special effects, dancing and set were breathtaking. The music wasn't that impressive to me; there are no memorable melodies. The singing may have been good but I am no authority.
There were a few technical glitches: at least 2 audio dropouts, one or two freezes and one or two digital video glitches. The sound was good and not too loud. Subtitles helped us figure out what they were singing about, not that it really mattered since most opera librettos are ridiculous. (And for some reason the theater didn't bring the lights up at the intermission soon enough so people were having a hard time seeing where they could go and left them on after the second act had begun.)
Once in awhile reflections were seen on the screen of the backdrop at the Met. Some reminded me of planes with their landing lights on which could have fit in but I'm sure were unintentional. Another looked like a reflection of Maestro Levine's conducting. I don't know what any of them really were. Those were the only flaws I saw with the set.
If you are not an opera fan you will be impressed with what you see in this opera. None of it was meant to overwhelm the opera. The closeup of Marguerite singing behind the singer who was actually onstage came closest to being over the top. Other visuals that were stunning included the dancers underwater, gyrating in unexpected directions as only one can underwater, the dancers in white dazzling the eye each in their own windows, the acrobatic (Cirque du Soleil inspired) dancers standing horizontally out into space from the backdrop!, the motionless Christs on their crosses, the gnarly trees withering as Méphistophélès moved beneath each one are just a few that I can remember.
Too bad the music is so indistinct. You may love Berloioz but this doesn't have much to hold onto.
Go. You will enjoy it.
See some videos here:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/detail.aspx?id=5792
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/detail.aspx?id=4426
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