Les Troyens: One time I watched opera for 5 hours

Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz

A few days ago, I checked the website for the Met Live Opera Schedule to buy my ticket for their presentation of Les Troyens.  I was genuinely surprised to see that there were only a few tickets remaining for the Vancouver presentation downtown on Burrard Street.  I quickly purchased my ticket. I was definitely looking forward to this Met Opera broadcast, live from New York. I had not attended any Met HD Live broadcasts since July 2011 in Montréal when I watched Jonas Kaufmann, Deb Voigt, and Bryn Terfel literally knock my socks off in Wagner's phenomenal Die Walküre.  

Before this morning, I was completely unfamiliar with Berlioz's grand opera Les Troyens.  All I knew was that I was in for a fairly long day. The performance was to last from 9 am until 2:30 PM!  Earlier this week, I went and borrowed a copy of the score from the UBC Music Library with the noble intention to listen to the whole opera before Saturday. Well, the week got busy and I only listened to the first fifteen minutes of Act I.  Saturday's broadcast would have to be a surprise - and a surprise is what Berlioz delivered!

Not once, during the entire 5 hours of the opera, was I tempted to check the time. The amazing musicians of the Met Orchestra, Met Opera Chorus, and the stunning soloists kept me engaged the entire time.  This, after all, is what fine art is designed to do - capture the attention of its audience and prompt their thoughts on the human condition.

What is it about this opera that kept me engaged?  After Acts I and II, I was already impressed musically and dramatically by what the composer had created.  After seeing Les Troyens, I would argue that Berlioz is one of the 19th Century's more underrated composers.  The choral writing, small ensemble writing, and arias are simply wonderful.

Acts III and IV feature gorgeous ballet scenes where Berlioz's gift for orchestration truly shines. Oh, and the love duet between Dido and Aeneas at the end of Act IV was one of the most sensual, beautiful performances of opera that I have ever witnessed. One almost felt as if it were appropriate to leave the couple in privacy. Berlioz perfectly captures the intimacy shared by Queen Dido and the Trojan hero Aeneas. 

Just when you thought things were going well for this lovely couple, you realize: "Right, it's French romantic opera. People have to die and the lovers break up." Welcome to Act V and the reality check that you knew was coming but didn't want to admit was going to actually materialize.  To make an extremely long (as in five hours long) story short, the power couple of Queen Dido and Aeneas call it quits.  Forced to choose between staying with his love, Queen Dido of Carthage and re-building Trojan civilisation in Italie, Aeneas chooses to be loyal to his duty and leaves with the entire Trojan fleet in search of a new home, namely Italy.  

Dido doesn't take the news very well and ends her own life with the blade of Aeneas' sword.  I would make comments about her being a "drama queen" but after taking a step back, Berlioz' music actually leaves his audience quite sympathetic to the heartbroken mezzo-soprano. The music in Act V is, for lack of a better word, intense. The string section of the orchestra is kept extremely busy and the emotional level is heightened.

How is it that a modern audience can sympathise with a character from the Ancient World? Perhaps it is because the problems that Dido and Aeneas face are not unfamiliar to modern audiences.  The problem that Aeneas faces is not uncommon today. He has to choose between his "professional duties" and a relationship.  The music in Acts IV and V shows that he deeply struggles with this decision. (Honestly, he's a decent guy!)  

Opera (and other forms of art) endure across periods of time because they speak to something universal that affects a wide variety of audiences. I have observed the pain that people go through when making a choice similar to the one that Aeneas made.  I have also observed the pain that people who are on the receiving end of that decision feel.  This opera leaves us with more questions than it does answers. What prompts someone to choose professional duty over romantic loyalty? Can someone be faulted for choosing to pursue a career rather than a relationship? Did Aeneas make the right decision by being loyal to his people as their de-facto leader? Berlioz leaves it to his audience to make that decision. 

In conclusion, what keeps someone in their seat for a five-hour opera? We are kept in our seats because although the costumes being worn are from Ancient Troy and Carthage, the hearts of the characters are our hearts.  The decisions that the characters face are our decisions. The range of emotions portrayed on stage (passion, love, betrayal, despair, helplessness) are the feelings that we experience.