Yesterday was the only day this week where it worked with our school schedule to follow the complicated process to get these super cheap tickets (14 Euros!). We had to wait in line at 1:00 to get our ticket number, be back at 4:00 to stand in line for our actual ticket, and back again at 6:30 to find our seat and wait for the curtain to lift. If you're counting, that means 3 metro rides to and from the Duomo station!
But, oh was it worth it.
The view from our seats.
We started out with the worst seats in the house. Crazy, that they don't give you a beautiful box seat with a perfect view of the stage for just 15 euros! But these were awful. La Scala was built with a famous horseshoe shape, which, as our tour guide pointed out, makes for excellent people watching but not so great stage watching! Once the lights went down, we noticed people in the upper galleries moving around to find the best available view. I spent the entire first act (this was a Strauss opera, so that's about an hour and a half!) holding on to a brass rail above my head, leaning out over the poor souls sitting in front of us. They must have gotten tired of that, so when the lights dimmed for the second act, we noticed those seats were free. Margaret and I spent the next two acts sitting front row, foreheads resting on the rail as we gazed at the stage. This really reinforced one of the most important things I've learned from this trip as a whole: no matter what your original circumstances are; you can always change things for the better.
The orchestra pit, which naturally was one of my favorite parts!
This three act opera lasted a solid 5 1/2 hours, with intermissions! There was a bar on our floor so we would go grab water and free peanuts during intermission and be back in our seats with plenty of time to spare. So many people were socializing and it was clear that many of the gallery members were frequent patrons of La Scala. No one sits in the upper galleries of La Scala for any reason other than the sheer love of music. (If you reference the first picture I posted, the very top two rows are the galleries and they are crowded and hot and uncomfortable.). Everyone was leaning forward in their chairs, or standing up for a better view, looks of wonder and awe on their faces. When the stars came out for their bows, shouts of "Brava!" and "Bravo!" came from the upper galleries.
There were two snapchat filters specifically for La Scala, so obviously we used them both!
I'm not exactly sure what my favorite part was. I loved leaning over the edge to watch the concertmaster during his solos. I loved trying to look down at the little screen provided at each seat with the translation of the opera and looking back up to capture both the action and the meaning. I loved giving up on understanding the words and just letting the emotion of the music wash over me. I loved being surrounded by people who love music. I love the live nature of theater, and knowing that I only had one chance to see this opera performed exactly as it was. I loved trying to hold onto every single breath, not wanting to release it and move onto the next moment. It's hard to live in the moment when you're trying so hard to remember exactly what that moment feels and sounds and looks like.
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