Zurich Opera, opinions?

[rm]

So, on a lark I went to see about opera tickets for Patty and I in Zurich Saturday night. Sold out and sold out hard. That said, there are a very few tickets for the Friday performance of Die Zauberflöte. The seats available are astounding and priced accordingly.

I am a little, tiny, novice baby in my opera education, and enjoy it for the broad experience of it -- yes the music and the singers, but I care deeply about staging and costume, audience behavior, opera house decor, the whole bloody fabulous thing because I was sort of ruined for How Opera Really Is by Luhrmann's production of La Boheme being the vehicle by which I discovered I actually really dig opera. My ruination for How Opera Really Is has also been compounded by an obsession with Baroque semi-opera, so I'm not just a novice, I'm a weird, picky novice.

So, in light of that should I drop almost 200 francs to go to the opera by myself on Friday night before Patty gets in?

Conversely, I could drop 98 francs to see La Fanciulla del West a week from tomorrow in somewhat less stellar seats (of which there is one left, so I need to make this decision like now).

I know Die Zauberflöte a little. I don't know La Fanciulla del West at all (but since it's Puccini, it will be easily accessible, so it's not really a worry).

Thoughts?

Particularly from opera buffs who've been to the Zurich Opera and can appreciate my novice state and interest beyond just sound?

Merci!

ETA: If I do this, I desperately need to know the level of formality for my attire, as I assume it to be different here than in the US.

Comments

[spreadsothin.livejournal.com]

A note on La Fanciulla del West
(which you may or may not already be privy to)

Many people in the musical world believe that the music from Phantom of the Opera borrows heavily from La Fanciulla del West, very heavily.

There's even a lyric referencing it directly in Musical of Musicals: A Musical.