Good evening readers! Resident artist Michael Nyby here, updating from the first Pearl Fishers orchestra run at the Ordway. I’ve always felt that opera is best viewed from the balcony, where one can best assimilate the full visual and auditory value of a production. As viewed from seat 28 of balcony row 2, this is quite a visually striking production. Anyone familiar with the design of Zandra Rhodes would not be surprised.
Along a similar vein, I am always fascinated by the transformation of voices once a production enters the performance space. Sure, all the soloists sound good in the small rehearsal spaces, but the acoustics of a well-designed performance hall have a way of adding a richness and warmth to the voice, and the design of the Ordway makes excellent use of this effect. The design is essentially that of the classic European opera house–tall, shallow, and steep–as opposed to the wider, deeper design of many North American houses. The classic design was tailor made for opera, whereas the larger American houses were often built as multi-use venues, where the unique acoustical requirements of the human voice tend to take a backseat to economic efficiency of design. With that in mind, the Minnesota Opera and the residents of the Twin Cities are fortunate to have such a wonderful space for opera. I’m excited to observe the onstage experience firsthand when I sing my role in Casanova’s Homecoming in November!