Opera Gone Modern Video Game

The opera I chose is Ernani by Verdi. This was originally performed in 1844, and was a very dramatic opera. This opera is classic in that it is about a woman, Elvira, that is a love triangle. She is told to marry Gomez de Silva by her family, however is in love with bad boy Ernani, whom she cannot marry. Ernani is collaborating with a bunch of bandits who feel sorry for him because he is so gloomy. They decide to capture Elvira and run away with her. Ernani breaks in when King Carlos and Silva are there, he challenges them both to battle and tells Elvira to prepare to flee. Elvira chooses to marry Silva because she believes Ernani is dead. Ernani however finds his way into the palace again, to tell Elvira they will run away together, and she tells him that she plans to kill herself at the altar. Then Ernani and Silva get together to get Elvira away from the King. Strangely the two worked together well, and even though the King demanded answers and help Elvira captive, Silva did not turn Ernani in. Carlos overhears Ernani and Silva talking and demands that Ernani is dead however once he sees the connection between Ernani and Elvira he decides to unite the two lovers. At the end Silva hands Ernani a dagger and he ends up killing himself as he promised Silva he would do so in return for freeing Elvira from the King.

From this opera I learned that many operas are the same story, however presented differently. It seems to me that most operas are a dramatic love story between two lovers who cannot be together and at the end one of the lovers commits suicide. When this opera was originally presented I think that the audience reacted very well to the opera because it was based on events that were happening around them. This time people were forced into marriages and many times, the ones whom they were told to marry were not the ones they loved. I'm sure many men and women could relate to the feelings that were presented during the operas. Besides, everyone loves a good love story! 

This piece is important chronologically to opera because it is telling stories of what was happening in this time in history. It also is testing the limits with opera by performing acts that may have been otherwise known as taboo. Committing suicide on stage has got to have been a bold statement at this time in history. Unfortunately, today we hear of suicide much too often. There is minimal use of technology in this opera however it can be seen in the beginning when the bandits are fighting the man on the white horse. This use of technology makes the skit come to life. Also as in most other operas the use of technology can be seen through the different back drops during the opera. 

If I were a 21st century director, I would turn this opera into a video game by making the game about capturing Elvira. The way the game would work is by going up levels each time you get closer to Elvira. You would encounter challenges such as Silva and Carlos, however to win the game would have to overcome these obstacles and eventually get the girl. This game would have lots of action as Ernani is part of the bandits and there is a lot of "almost" fights between Ernani, the King, and Carlos. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcInGVq_ERw