Cochlear Implant Miracles: Opera! Bravo! Encore!

I'm no novice with cochlear implants, having gotten my first CI in 1997, and being bilateral since 2008.  I always was able to enjoy music with my CIs - it took a while to adapt back in 1997, with some music genres taking longer than others to sound "normal."  I had never been an opera buff prior to losing my hearing, though, but being deaf and enjoying music has made me want to try it all.  I do listen to classical music, so opera wasn't exactly a huge leap.  I learned about the Metropolitan Opera HD simulcasts a few years ago - these are live performances that are beamed by satellite into local movie theaters. The ticket price is a fraction of a live Met performance, and in some respects, the simulcast experience has additional benefits unavailable in the live theater.  

With that as background, I looked forward to the first opera of the season - Verdi's Otello - which had Renee Fleming in the leading female role - a wonderful opportunity to see the best!  This opera would run 3 1/2 hours with one intermission.  The interesting part about going to the opera is that it is wonderful music practice.  Even though I do well listening to music, it still does get "better" after listening for 3 1/2 hours.  

There were several movie theaters in my area showing this performance - a few of them sold out.  Arriving a bit early  ensures getting the pick of seating location - no extra charge!  And so, waiting for the 1 PM curtain, I always pack a picnic lunch - the theaters don't mind, understanding that popcorn and Verdi aren't really made for each other.   The countdown to the opera begins about 5 minutes before, with this on-screen update: 

Waiting for Otello to begin 

Knowing that this is being broadcast live is exciting. There are rebroadcasts at other times, which I've attended.  But there's something special knowing that a mere 10 or so miles away in NYC, all this is happening "live from New York"!    And then, the focus is on that massive curtain and stage!

Metropolitan Opera awaiting the beginning of Otello

There are several benefits to attending these simulcasts:  

• Subtitles are placed right on the screen, in perfect sync with the lyrics, in easy-to-read font size.
• They always have some famous opera star doing interviews with the performers at the intermission (but not captioned). 
• The cameras zoom in on the performers so you can see them up close - much closer than even front row orchestra seats!
• The camera also zooms into the orchestra pit to highlight the instrumental passages.
• The cameras are behind the curtain during scene changes, showing the incredible infrastructure that allows for these elaborate stage sets. And they interview the production personnel as well.
• And, my absolute favorite part, which begins the excitement, is when the production manager speaks into the intercom, "Maestro to the pit!" - signaling that it is showtime, the production is ready to begin, and the conductor is needed to start the overture!

And now to the music!  This was the first time I was going to be listening with my new software program, ClearVoice, set on my processors.  I've listened to music with it, and actually prefer the sound with ClearVoice on, but this was my first opera, so I was curious about how everything would sound.

And  . . .   I liked it!  ClearVoice seemed to give greater clarity to the instruments and to the voices.  I switched back and forth to my non-CV program, but CV won every time.   The bass voices are the ones I have the most difficulty with, as each ear hears that register slightly differently. But as I expected, I was doing better with this during the last act than in the beginning. The tonality was still good, it was just hearing the baritone as low as it really was. The sopranos were angelic, as usual.

When I first started going to these performances, I thought I'd never be able to sit through hour upon hour of opera.  But the sound, the sets, the costumes, the subtitles, the camerawork, the interviews - all make it a most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.  And with each opera, I sit there in utter awe, never forgetting that I am a deaf person, enjoying the enchantment of the Metropolitan Opera - and I still can't quite believe it.

Cochlear Implant Adventures Part VI: Smiling, Shining, Confident

Now to report on my last day in California - the end of an exciting week that had begun with a visit to Advanced Bionics and a spectacular sunrise.

The view from our downtown Los Angeles hotel on this last day of our trip wasn't quite the illuminating spectacle I was treated to a week ago, but it was still worth photographing - the big sky, the mountain backdrop, the glow from the east.  Here's the view from my hotel window - and if you look closely, you can see the LA Opera building on the right, alongside a partial view of silvery Disney Hall.

Sunrise in downtown Los Angeles

We only had a few hours left to sightsee before heading to the airport, so the pick for the day was Rodeo Drive, that fabled street of luxury stores.  I had always heard so much about it, and it seemed like the ideal place to spend our last few hours in Los Angeles - just park the car, walk up and down the boulevard until we ran out the clock on our week in California.

The experience was as "bling" as I had expected - no disappointments here!  We stopped at every store window, dropped into a few shops to browse, spoke with some salespeople.  No hearing revelations - just a perfect way to see this legendary location in person.  Shoes, jewelry, fashions:

Gucci shoes

 Jewelry

Fashion displays

We meandered up the charming Rodeo North side street, with its Tiffany and Versace stores:

Tiffany and Versace shops on Rodeo Drive North

It was right there, as I was window shopping in front of Tiffany's, that my husband suddenly told me to STOP.  He had to take my picture at that moment - the sun was casting its illuminating glow on me!  After viewing the photo, I thought immediately of the excerpt from my book, Listening Closely, that I had read to the Advanced Bionics staff just one week ago, about creating a masterpiece with my cochlear implants.  Considering the hearing adventures of the past week that I've written about in these blog episodes - the music, the casual conversations, the greater ease of socializing - my masterpiece description was coming to life here on Rodeo Drive:

"In essence, the masterpiece I am creating this time is more like an impressionist painting - a Renoir portrait, perhaps?  The shades are subtle, they blend, you can't really see the image clearly unless you step back, and it takes a while to appreciate what you're looking at.  The image that is emerging is someone who can hear even better than before - smiling, shining, confident - and hearing impaired continues to recede farther into the background."

Cochlear Implant Adventures Part V: LIVE - Jeopardy & Opera!

My whirlwind week in California continued to go according to plan (except for the Los Angeles traffic jams.)   What an amazing experience to see my expectations met and exceeded!  A quick recap - Advanced Bionics visit, Nethercutt Collection, Palm Desert weekend, Huntington Library and Gardens - plus brunches and dinners with friends in Rancho Mirage and Pasadena.  (I like saying the word "Pasadena" - makes my mouth happy.)  Now back to Los Angeles for Jeopardy in the morning, and the LA Opera in the evening - with the beach in between. 

Remember that I'm a deaf person with bilateral cochlear implants, with a long history of dealing with hearing loss.  I have always chosen carefully where I planned to visit and what I planned to do, never forgetting what my preferences are, and my limitations.  Although I watch Jeopardy on television, I always watch it with the captioning on, and I knew that going to a live taping of Jeopardy would have no captions and no assistive listening system available.  I had my eyes wide open on this.  I was confident enough now that I would be able to function reasonably well there.  And as for opera - I have been attending the Metropolitan Opera simulcasts in the movie theaters, so I knew I was ready to experience it live and that I would hear it well enough to enjoy it  - and  invest in the price of the tickets (our live opera tickets cost six times the price of the movie theater version).  It was ironic that both events ended up on the same day, especially considering that the opera and Jeopardy are not every-day occurrences. 

Here's a picture of me right outside the Jeopardy sound stage at the Sony Studios in Culver City, near downtown LA.  

Arlene outside of the Jeopardy studio

Those sound studios are BIG.  We had our tickets in hand, but had to wait and wait until we were allowed to enter the studio and take our seats.  As we were waiting, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was in LA visiting her son.  We chatted up a storm, and discovered we had so many things in common.  I guess it's not surprising to find like-minded people on a line for Jeopardy - but still, it was delightful to make a new friend, something I surely couldn't have done at all without my CIs, and certainly easier to do with my bilateral equipment.  

Here's what the Jeopardy set looked like. We were seated more to the right, so could see behind the contestants.  We learned that they are standing on little elevator platforms that could be raised or lowered, so that all their heads would be at the same height from the front.  

Jeopardy TV stage set

When the show started, I could watch the stage, or view the video screen off to the side. There were no captions, of course, as those are added post-production - and no assistive listening devices.  I was on my own.  I actually did quite well - and interestingly, I could understand the announcer, veteran Johnny Gilbert, best of all.  I could understand his voice without looking and without concentrating.  I couldn't really understand some of the contestants all the time, but if I knew the answers, then I did better than when I didn't.  Verdict on my decision to see Jeopardy?  WIN!  Yes, I would do it again.  Maybe next time as a contestant!  (NOT!)

Having a little fun at the Jeopardy studio

Interestingly, Wheel of Fortune is also taped in this sound studio, so we had our picture taken with this poster as well:

Arlene & Ira at Sony Studios

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the Pacific Ocean at Venice Beach, and then realized that getting back to our hotel would involve getting stuck in more LA traffic!  Oh no!  We left too little time to get back to the hotel to change our clothes, so I went to the opera wearing my jeans and sneakers!  (Oh, my!)

Arlene outside the LA Opera

When I researched the LA Opera, I couldn't believe that one of the few performances by Placido Domingo would fit exactly into our plans.  He was playing the title role in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, an opera I had already seen in the Met movie version, so this gave me an opportunity to compare. 

Placido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra

This opera house looked a bit like the Met in Lincoln Center in NYC - similar outside architecture. 

LA Opera

Inside, it had what most opera houses have now - supertitles over the stage to display the text line by line.  (By comparison, the Met has seatback captions - and the Met broadcasts in the movie theaters display the text as subtitles on the screen.)

LA Opera with supertitle screen over the stage

They also had display screens on the side of the orchestra, near my seats.  

Screen on the side to display the text

I always enjoy visiting theaters I've never been to before, and observing the audience.  Each location seems to have its own style and rhythm.   I could hear the music quite well - the orchestra sounded better to me in person than the Met movie version - a fuller sound.  The soloists, however, didn't have as robust a sound as the movie theater experience.  It seems as though they didn't have the balance right between the orchestra and the soloists. It could have been the sound mixing, the voices, the microphones, or just me.

At the intermission, we looked out from the terrace, and were able to see Disney Hall, the new Frank Gehry building with its avant garde architecture.

Disney Hall by Frank Gehry

That was on my "to see" list as well, so I'm glad we had a chance to see it up close!  

I was really thrilled to have had the chance to experience opera like this - live and in person is like nothing else.  I especially like the curtain calls - the standing ovations, the bravos - on and on and on.  I loved being part of it, live and in person!  And because I had the confidence to purchase these tickets, that I knew I would be able to hear it, I was able to experience the excitement of it all.  Priceless!

Cochlear Implant Adventures Part III: Vintage Cars and Music Machines

My visit to Advanced Bionics was everything I had hoped for - so exciting to actually experience carefully laid plans unfold so beautifully well.  Since I had come such a distance, from Florida to California, I had plans for the rest of the week - to visit friends, take in some of the sights, and best of all - go to the LA Opera to hear Placido Domingo, and also see a taping of the TV show, Jeopardy!  

The next stop was the Nethercutt Collection, just down the road from Advanced Bionics, in Sylmar, California.  I had selected this museum because it is a "diamond" attraction in the AAA book, and those are always worth seeing.  I've always reviewed in my mind what sort of listening challenges any attraction would present.  If there are tour guides, videos - anything that would require hearing - I'd always review how I'm likely to do. This time, with my bilateral cochlear implants, I knew I could pretty much handle anything - maybe not 100%, but I had enough confidence that I wouldn't have to resort to any extraordinary measures.  And I was right - as the accounts of my week's touring will show.

The Nethercutt Collection was actually two museum buildings - the vintage automobiles housed in one building, and additional vintage automobiles and an impressive music-making collection in a second building across the street.  The automobile building had no tour guides - just meandering among row upon row of an impressive collection of dozens and dozens of fantastically restored vintage automobiles.  I can't say that vintage automobiles are my primary interest, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience knowing these machines existed, and were now on display for all to view.   Here are a few of the them:

And they even had a vast collection of hood ornaments, with a rare collection made by Lalique, the French glass maker:

The museum across the street required taking a tour to view, which meant that I would have to listen to a tour guide. I've been doing quite well with tour guides, but the reality was that I would still need to stand near her to understand her - and this time, I just didn't want to do that for the entire time. So I made the decision to just sit out her talk about the cars, and look at my surroundings. This was NOT like years past where I couldn't hear tour guides, or needed FM systems to understand the tour guide.  I opted out of this by choice - I wanted to sit and relax.  You'll understand why I didn't mind doing this when you see what I had to look at!   

This display space was supposed to replicate what a luxury car showroom looked like in the 1920's.  You could see why I would have had to get close to the tour guide to hear her - with the high ceilings and marble floors, the acoustics were very difficult. So I just opted out and sat on a couch, needing the time out anyway!  (I wasn't the only one doing this, so I still felt "normal.")

The rest of the museum was upstairs, and included vintage music makers - music boxes, band organs, calliopes, a player grand piano and a genuine vintage Wurlitzer movie organ.  This picture shows the various types of music makers.  

First they played one of the huge music boxes, which had violins, drums, organ pipes, and was run like a player piano with a paper roll.  These were used to provide music at dance halls in Europe, instead of hiring a band or orchestra.  Here's the inside of one of the larger ones on display - this one was made in Belgium (I was listening to the tour guide now!)  

This music experience was a big challenge for my bilateral cochlear implants - I wasn't sure what I would be hearing or what they would be playing, so it was a wonderful surprise to hear the big sound that these machines created!  

They also demonstrated this concert grand piano, that had a player piano mechanism, and 97 keys - instead of the usual 88.  Here I am listening to the music - and imagining what it would be like to play it. The keys were actually going up and down as I watched and listened!  Note that the last few keys on the left are all black - those are the extra nine keys.

Arlene sitting at the 97-key concert grand player piano

And then for the grand finale, they played the Wurlitzer movie organ, which was an elaborate pipe organ with an enormous array of pipes built into the room - all hooked up electronically.  Again, I had no idea what to expect - I really didn't know what they were going to play or what this should sound like in this room.  My bilateral CIs were again being put to the test, for sure.

And, once again, it was simply an amazing experience - to know that I could appreciate the incredible sounds produced by these machines.  And even more telling about how I've been adapting to my bilateral cochlear implants,  I now had the confidence that I could handle and appreciate what I was going to experience - and that is really the point of what these bilateral CIs are all about.  Being able to do what others are doing, and enjoy it.

Cochlear Implant Miracles: Music to my ears

I went to the local movie theater yesterday to see and hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Gounod's FAUST.  These broadcasts are either live simulcasts or rebroadcasts of live Met Opera performances, available in movie theaters throughout the world, and are subtitled. I've done this before, always wondering if I'm going to be able to sit through hour upon hour of opera. Last night was no exception - arriving at 6:30 and finishing up over four hours later, including two intermissions - and the result was the same - enthralled!  What's really amazing about going is that the cost is so reasonable for opera (about $20), but it's also a great way to do music listening practice.  When the opera begins, my brain is always a little tentative about the voices, especially now that I'm bilateral and it has to balance both sides. It sounds good to start, but gets even better the more I listen.  Last night, the closing act and scenes were so intense - both subject matter and music - it was spine-tingling.  One thing about my CI processors, they do a really great job of separating the instruments in the orchestra and the voices as well.  This is a wonderful and natural way to get in that music practice, and it has opened up an entirely new interest for me - and my husband.  Never would have believed it - a deaf person listening to opera for four hours, and loving it.