singdaw - I guess you're right, it depends where you're sitting. Thinking back, from the tiers at City Opera (grand tier on up), it seems you can look squarely at the stage and take in the titles and the stage at the same time. But when I sat in the orchestra section for HARVEY MILK at City Opera, seeing the titles when necessary (not always, since it was in English) was a chore.
We were in the center grand tier at the Met last night, which was perfect for seeing what was going on onstage. (Thrilling when the several chandeliers rose right in front of us before the opera, BTW; hope that doesn't peg me as looking for theme park entertainment, but it was exciting).