Forever ambiguous

The best way to experience Peking Opera, or Italian opera for that matter, is in a theater. Nothing beats the sound of musical instruments and the human voice in an acoustic environment.

To reach a wider audience, however, operas need a helping hand. Strangely, the movie theater, an erstwhile rival that drove opera away from the center stage, could be reformatted as its savior.

In 2006, the Metropolitan Opera in New York began to broadcast a series of performances live via satellite into movie houses around the world, especially those in North America. For the 2006-07 season, a total of 324,000 tickets were sold. During my visit to Houston I bought two of these tickets - for The First Emperor and I Puritani. I couldn't say it was just like watching a live opera, but it was the closest I could think of.