An Evening with Aida

While we were wandering the streets of Sydney in early April, we noticed many banners flapping in the breeze advertising Verdi’s opera, Aida. This production staged on Sydney Harbor promised to be a real spectacle. “Let’s see if we can get tickets” we decided. The concierge at our centrally located hotel, helped to make our wishes come true. Done! Two tickets for Aida for the following day!

It turned out to be a beautiful evening – perfect weather for an outdoor event. It had been raining the day before. All we had to do was to walk the 20 minutes or so – by passing some notable Sydney sights like St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Botanic Gardens to reach Sydney Harbor. My good friend – Lian, always tastefully dressed, looked ready for any opera performance anywhere. I did my best to keep up. Together we walked to the performance needing no more than shawls to keep ourselves warm.

The performance stage specially constructed on the water’s edge was extraordinary, it’s beauty heightened by the sun setting on Sydney Harbor and the iconic Opera House across the water from us. This was to be the biggest opera performed on stage with more than 700 people involved! I have never seen an opera with ballet dancers and other performers in it – and this one also had camels and a live fireworks display to celebrate the victory of Radames, over the Ethiopians!

The opera is about the forbidden love between the Egyptian leader Radames and the beautiful enslaved Ethiopian princess, Aida. There’s a love triangle involving the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris who also desires Radames but as in many operas – the end is never happy. In this case, entombment and death. For me, the highlights are “moments” in the opera, not so much the ending. We were enthralled by the very strong performances from Aida and Radames and the fantastic chorus. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

We walked back, a little giddy and light-headed luxuriating in the after-glow of the performance – guided by the soft twinkling lights strung along the perimeter of the stage on huge, magnificent old trees. Ah, Aida! Sydney will never be the same again.