Sometimes it takes a little extra from an audience or critic to separate themselves from their “likes and dislikes” in order to evaluate a piece of art on its own terms of merit.
There’s a concept in literary study called the “suspension of disbelief.” In simple terms, it means you are required as an audience to pause your mental grounding in reality and embrace that which cannot possibly be real or even plausible. Without this suspension, the trust between the artist and audience is broken and the art is rendered ineffective.
So when Candice and I attended Tristan and Isolde at the Lyric Opera in Chicago last month, instead of suspending my disbelief, I was forced to suspend my dislikes.
It was our second time at the Lyric, having previously seen La Traviata in celebration of our first anniversary. Running time of that show was right around three hours. Let it be known that I consider myself a well cultured, traveled, and read individual. I also have an obsessive affection for music. However, I am NOT a fan of the operatic voice or the “sing talking” the performers utilize in the show. In terms of performing arts, I much prefer pure theatrical drama, even down to the slow, grinding pace of works such as Hamlet or Lear. The intensely long, static scenes of the opera (we’re talking 30-40 minutes) become unbearable to witness because they advance the story in neither plot breadth nor character depth. After the first ten minutes I get it. You’re sad. You’re really, really sad. You’re also really, really pissed about being so really, really sad. Whatever. Now go do something about it and quit crying like a washed up bitch! (Note- this statement applies to the male character more so than the female. No women were harmed in the production of this blog post). This wallowing in self pity and deprivation goes on for nearly five hours in turn, and inevitably, causes an equal and opposite reaction of self pity and deprivation.
But returning to the concept of suspending your dislikes, if you are able to take a step back, outside your own realm of comfort and liking, you can certainly appreciate a number of the opera’s artistic attributes, specifically:
- These people are absolutely pouring it out for you, physically and emotionally
- The analog of their voices cannot be truly reproduced…these are quite the highly optimized musical instruments
- The venue (Lyric Opera) is a masterpiece of architecture and design…I often found my attention focused on the intricacies of the theater and its adornments
- The stage design was uniquely contemporary for a Wagner opera, and aesthetically pleasing at that…the depth of the stage was mind boggling
There is no denying this performance was world class and of the highest quality. And I successfully implored myself to find a way to appreciate the aforementioned aspects of the show. But when it comes down to brass tacks…
I just really, really hate it.
