An evening at The Prague State Opera

The 2009 study trip to Budapest, Bratislava, and Prague was a gas! I had a great time meeting new people, seeing new places, and I learned a lot, too! I consider this trip to be one of the major highlights of my TMMBA experience.

One of my best experiences of the entire trip was going to the opera. Yes, the opera. I had no idea I would be going to see an opera in Prague, but now that I type it out it seems quite remarkable to have done so. I can now say I went to a first-rate opera in Prague!

I had the good fortune to see Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida) in the Prague State Opera House (Státní opera Praha) on the Friday before our trip was over. While I am a classical music buff, having played bass and tenor trombone in many orchestras over the years (including the “pit orchestra” for the Walla Walla Symphony's 1983 production of Bizet’s Carmen opera), I never really knew or cared that much about opera as an art form. For one thing, I never could tell what was going on, what the story was, etc. Another problem was that it seemed to drag on too long. All these people in frilly costumes on stage, bellowing out unintelligible lyrics with wiggly voices…it all really seemed a little too much for me. I could not have been more mistaken...

When I walked into the Prague State Opera House I was overcome with awe. This is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve been in!

See the photo: http://www.pragueexperience.com/pop_up_information/xlarge.asp?PlaceID=625&ImageFolder=xlarge

This opera house has played host to some of the world’s most famous musicians: Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Bedřich Smetana, Sergei Prokofiev, and Enrico Caruso, the famous Italian tenor (1873-1921), all performed here.

My experience that night was very memorable, one which I will not soon forget.

What was interesting about this opera experience for me (as opposed to my limited exposure to others: Barber of Seville, Carmen, Phantom of the Opera, etc.) was that at this opera house had lyrics displayed in a large LED screen over the stage so you could read what the singers were singing. This is good if you’re like me and you can’t make heads or tails out of what’s being sung, especially when it’s in Czech. They had the lyrics (or libretto as the opera buffs call them) broadcast in Czech, English, and some other language I can’t remember anymore.

What was also great about this experience was that the singing seemed to really be good; no wiggly vibrato! Part of it must have been that I was finally able to follow the storyline. Whatever the reason—maybe it was the exotic-ness or new-ness of the experience—I realized I was actually enjoying an opera!

The inside décor of the Prague State Opera house is pretty spectacular, as you can see in the picture.

There’s not much I have seen in the States that compares to this opera house (with the possible exception of Carnegie Hall, which I have been to a number of times to hear the Vienna Philharmonic and other orchestras play). I’m sure the Vienna State Opera House is pretty spectacular, too, but I haven’t been there yet.

What’s also amazing about the Prague State Opera House (then known as New German Theatre) is that it was actually the site of one of Verdi’s opera premiere’s (La traviata) in November 9, 1919 under the baton of Georg Széll, who later went on to become the famous conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra…and now we’re in my zone. Georg Széll is one of the most recorded and revered conductors of all time, especially well-known for his interpretation of Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies (to which I can truthfully attest).

The opera itself was incredible: the music, the story, the costumes. It was a great storyline, too.

In a nutshell:

Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radames is loved by the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris, although he does not return her feelings.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida)

I was really moved. The costumes were fantastic and the music was flawless, as was the singing (in my humble opinion).

I was also intrigued by something I observed: when we were led to our box seat, through a locked door that our “handler” unlocked for us, there was an expectation of a tip, which I quickly picked up on when she did not leave right away. She thanked me for the dime, or whatever I gave her, and left on her way. This is interesting to note in light of some of what we came to learn about tipping in Czech culture.

Anyway, in case you’re interested in learning more, here are some facts about the Prague State Opera House:

The Prague State Opera presents a varied repertoire of opera and ballet from Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Rossini, Donizetti, Prokofiev and other famous composers.

As with many buildings in the Czech Republic, the Prague State Opera has an interesting history. Originally named the German Theatre, the opera house opened in 1888 to great applause. It was immediately hailed as one of the finest German opera houses.

After World War II, the opera house was renamed the Smetana Theatre, after the famous Czech composer.

As Czechoslovakia became a communist state, opera was considered elitist, and performances were few and far between. The opera house building suffered from neglect during this period.
The theatre's renaissance came in 1992, after the fall of communism. Yet another name change followed, to the now familiar Prague State Opera.

A regular program of opera and ballet was installed, and this magnificent theatre came to life once more. For many visitors today, a night at the opera is the highlight of their Prague trip.
Performances at the Prague State Opera run for around ten months of the year, breaking from late June to late August.

At Christmas the Prague State Opera is the grand setting for classical music concerts, and on New Year's Eve it hosts a celebrated gala ball.

The Prague State Opera is located a couple of minutes walk from the top of Wenceslas Square.

(Source: http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=625)

(Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_State_Opera)

Good to be Home

I have to say it was so much fun to travel, but definately nice to come home. I really enjoyed visiting all the companies and learning about their challenges and the way they are trying to stay ahead of the competition. For example, Magyar Telekom, a phone company (T-Mobile) is expending by selling life insurance in Hungary. It is uncommon for most of us to understand a company to extend services to life insurance based on what we have learned in our program, but in Hungary , it is all about trusting the company.

After leaving Prague on Tuesday, the 24th, I went on to visit my home land in Romania. My flight was to Budapest and from Budapest to Cluj. Well, ironically, my plane to Cluj got cancelled so I was stuck in the Budapest airport for 12 hours befor the next flight. The good news is that I got a voucher for 3000 forints and a calling card from Magyar Telekom.

During my airport stay, I did meet another Romanian who gave me a run down of all the corruption that happens. Do we all remember the article about the corruption in the ethics class or whether or not to pay additional $ to get phone lines? Well, it's basically that everywhere.

Once in Cluj, I got to see some family, but also got to visit my school I went to until 6th grade (used to be called #17, but now Ion Creanga, after a famous Romanian writer). I got a private tour from the director, Cristian Munteanu, of the school and was provided with all the information of the changes in the last 19 years. The students still have uniforms, but there is no student number patch for every student. The desks were portable to allow the students to move around the room to collaborate in teams. The room where we used to the girls used to learn how to knit and sow became a technology lab. This included computers and flat screens for about 30 students. The director insisted that Romania is just as technologically advanced as any other country. I definately got the same sense.

I also got to visit a Carrefour store that we learned about in Global Strategy. Luckily, my aunt was with me because I wouldn't be able to get groceries. Have you ever had a moment where your visa did not go through? Well, this was it for me. I am at the checkstand, and my pin was not working. I told the cashier to run my card through without the pin using the Visa, but it didn't go through. So finally I learned. Their pay system is not connected to the United States so I could not pay with my Visa.

It seems Romania now has everything available, but the problem is that people don't have the money to pay. For example, my aunt still does not have hot water in the house or a bathroom. The problem is that it's expensive to get a heating system into your house, and most people make $300 a month. Even a doctor starting out makes $300 a month, so most doctors leave the country to practice in others. In fact, my cousin who is graduating high school is going to France to work for a salary of $1400/mo.

As I was leaving the country, I got to the international airport at Cluj Napoca (photo gallery). It was the worst airport to travel out of because there were many international flights, but a lot of chaos. It took over an hour to get to the x-ray machine, but the line was not bigger than 15 people per line. Talk about inefficiencies and thinking about operations management. They had two lines of people leading to one x-ray machine. I could not believe it. Awful. Af if that was not frustrating enough, I went through and got stopped with my bag. The security guy (not polite at all) kept asking what kind of metal did I carry. I told him I didn't have anything. After he opened my bag and took out almost everything, it came down that the crystal that I bought from Ruckl. It was the lead in the crystal that was showing up on the x-ray machine. I guess that means it's good quality crystal, right?

Anyways, glad to be back in the country, but I would definately recommend the study trip to future students. Besides the company visits, I enjoyed getting to know other students better especially from the B section, which I wouldn't have had the opportunity otherwise.

I would like to thank the TMMBA staff for making this trip such a success overall.