The View from "Way" Above: Sitting in Score-Desk seats at the Metropolitan Opera

May 11th, 2013 was like any other day. The weather was nice/rainy, the food from the street vendors was delightful, and I had just picked up my tickets from the Met Opera Guild Office. But these were no ordinary tickets. I had paid $8 dollars to sit in the Metropolitan Opera House for the final performance of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, starring Isabel Leonard, Patricia Racette, and Felicity Palmer. The catch? I had to sit in a Score-Desk Seat. I was prepared for an interesting time. I borrowed a vocal score from my school's library, bought a copy of the libretto from the Met Shop, and brought my handy notebook to take notes. I was aware that I would have no view of the stage or the pit, mostly because I would be behind someone sitting against the railing of the family circle.

So what did I get? Exactly what I expected. I got a nice desk with a lamp, a suitable chair one would find in the box seats. I could barely see the stage, but heard every note as I read along in the score. All the voices carried and their emotions were realized in my mind. I tried my hardest to imagine what was going on via the libretto and score, so I hardly got to experience the set which was so famously praised at the premiere; The bare stage in the shape of a cross was the cornerstone of the minimalist design. How quickly flyers would come down to change it to a living room, a chapel, the guillotine, and a jail cell.

Photo from 1976-1977 run

My view that night was this:

And that was actually what I saw from sitting down. As much as I enjoyed listening to amazing trio of singers and the Met Chorus, I felt that I was missing a huge part of the opera house experience. Even though Felicity Palmer presented an outstanding death scene just with her voice I could not imagine the looks of the other actors when that occurred. So at the end of intermission, I took my supplies and moved myself to List Hall to watch on a projector and listen via the Met Opera XM radio station. The Met has a small camera that takes a large view of the stage. No faces, no closeups, and just a wide bright view of the set and moving figures as I read my score on a raised desk. It was a bit more easier to see what was going on, but still not being in the presence of the talent. Nevertheless, I was thrilled by the music, singers, and the story. I even ran back to the main hall to be part of the overwhelming applause that followed.

I followed this up by walking to the backstage door and running into Conductor Louis Langree, Isabel Leonard, Patricia Racette, Felicity Palmer, Natalie Dessay (who was not in that production but most likely was taking care of business from Giulio Caesare), and even Met Radio host William Berger. 

All in all, I had an enjoyable experience but upset I did not get to see the whole experience, which was not necessary to appreciate the power of the opera. I am positive I will try score-desk seats again, but maybe on a production I have heard or seen many times in the past. Like La Boheme of Il Barbiere di Seviglia. I recommend it to anyone hoping to read a score and listen to a good opera for a low price, if you don't mind not seeing the stage.

Next Time: The Best Beethoven App Ever!