The Nightingale Opera

For my opera assignment I watched "The Nightingale" an opera by Igor Stravinsky. Throughout the play I noticed that the mise en scene was very minimalistic, leaving all the attention on the performance itself. The props that were used looked super cool. I learned that the Stravinsky was Russian and wrote this opera in Russian but it is mostly referred to by it's French title "Le Rossignol" and that he later turned the opera into a symphonic orchestra. Also in 2014 "The Nightingale" was paired with Mozart's "The Impresario" by the Santa Fe company. I am curious if that is because French operas were more prominent at the time or if it was watched more by French audiences. Watching this opera I discovered that I can follow the story of an opera quite well. Originally I had thought that the story of an opera was something totally foreign to me but after watching it and then looking up what it was about I had the story just about right. That being said an opera is still not my cup of tea, but I can now see why many people enjoy them. I believe audiences initial reaction of this opera would have been very good, because it is a like a bedtime story, which everyone can relate to and there is nothing very controversial in the performance. Although I am not sure what public opinion of the Japanese was at the time so maybe that was a point of controversy. Through some research I found that Stravinsky turned the opera into a ballet during his lifetime since the opera was very atypical in that it was only 45 minutes long and was essentially 1 act with 3 scenes. The opera itself though was still perceived and a good one in it's time. Technology is used in the nightingale by the fact that during original performances the singers were in the pit while the people on stage just mimed to what they heard, this has to use some sort of acoustic technology to make it appear as though the people on stage are singing as well as dancing. If I were to turn this opera into a video game I think it could be a really cool artistic rendition of the story itself. The game could be similar to "Life is Strange" an artsy decision making game that mostly focuses on dialogue and art style. The game could follow the same story as the opera with some decisions leading to outcomes that completely diverge from the opera. The true storyline though, if you were to pick all the right choices, would lead you along the exact story of the opera with the nightingale ending up at the emperor's bedside singing for him.

Sources:
http://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/4601