I have never been to opera.
But I have a friend who trained as an opera singer, and sang at Glyndebourne and other big venues, before giving it up in her latter years and going into teaching.
A few weeks back, she mentioned that she was going to give a recital in our town, and an old singing colleague of hers was also going to sing. He is a professional opera singer and runs an opera company.
The event was all for charity - just a collection at the end.
I went, not knowing quite what to expect.
The singing was (as you might expect) spectacular. But what really stunned me was the acting. The physical postures and gestures that "sold" the songs to the audience. And, as we were in a small venue, being so close to the performance was very special.
The climax of the evening was the end of Carmen, where (spoiler alert!) her ex-lover stabs Carmen in a fit of passion. It was incredible.
Mind you, the fact that it was my friend's ex-husband doing the stabbing perhaps explains the level of tension between the two protagonists!