The Audition - A Review of the Metropolitan Opera

The Audition is a masterfully filmed documentary chronicling the final weeks of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a coveted event where only five to six of the thousands of talented entrants will win $15,000, a chance to perform on the Metropolitan Opera's stage, and the possibility of launching an operatic career. The Audition is a captivating film that wondrously captures the raw emotion, the unthinkable pressures, the sheer anxiety, the joy, and the camaraderie of competition.

As I mentioned before, The Audition is a film that focuses on the final weeks of competition between 22 operatic singers as they compete to win the coveted Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The film by Susan Froemke and hosted by famous soprano, Renee Fleming, was broadcasted to 400 theaters across the US on April 19, 2009, as part of the Met's award winning HD presentations and garnered rave reviews, and having watched it myself, it's easy to understand why.

The film opens with a brief introduction with Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, and Thomas Hampson and quickly launches into the audition process - starting with the morning of the semi-finals as if you too are one of the competitors. Throughout the audition process, you will meet the judges, the mentors, and of course you'll learn a little bit more about the singers and their background. One of the first things you'll realize is that the judges have quite the task at hand - every singer sounds so wonderful! One of the things I know first hand is that auditioning is so nerve racking. As you watch the performances you can literally see the singers lips tremble as they sing! About twenty-five minutes into the film, the semi-finalists are reduced to eleven, and the main focus of the film takes hold - the last week of the audition process. For the final week, the singers choose two arias for the upcoming performance with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in front of the judges as well as a huge audience. Throughout the week you'll hear their practices and workshops and, like me, you'll probably start to judge yourself and pick your winners. Finally, after the final audition and the winners are announced, you'll see a brief "where are they now" and then hear a discussion of the film between Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, and Thomas Hampson.