Roma: Which Opera?

And the answer is … Aida … the tragic opera by Giuseppe Verdi, which appropriately debuted in Cairo … in 1871.

Our opera outing was another ‘bambino memory journey’ for Mui.

Back in the 1960s, he’d gone with his mom, aunt, and sister to see this very opera … performed amongst the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla. The memories that stood out for him were the scenes of the triumphant return of the Egyptian army. And more so, the white horses that came galloping on stage towards the audience … reined in at the last minute to the accompaniment of gasps from the people sitting near the stage. He didn’t remember that elephants came lumbering onto the stage as well … until his sister recently reminded him.

Mui has one more memory from that evening … but I’ll reveal that at the end of this footprint.

Aida continues to be performed at the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla. However, that venue is closed for restoration now, so Teatro dell’Opera di Roma had to move to a new venue … Circo Massimo … the site of spectacles for 2,800 years!

And now you know why we booked the apartment at which we are staying on this trip … convenience, convenience, convenience. That we could walk to and from the opera tonight … well, that was priceless.

Anyway, our decision to see Aida in Roma came about when we were in Türkiye in June. Mui saw a promotional notice for it, and the rest is history.

We researched the seating chart for the venue at Circo Massimo before purchasing our tickets for the last performance of the season … opting for row 15 … the first row after the first aisle … primarily because we’d read that the first section was flat. Turns out that it isn’t … there is a slight incline. But the aisle provided a slight advantage for me, the shortie, so we were happy with our seats … except for when the ‘baldy’ in the last row of the first section raised his arm — repeatedly — to rub his baldpate like it was the tummy of Buddha!

The opera is in Italian, of course, but there were large screens on either side of the stage where the lyrics were displayed in English as well as Italian. Though I knew the story, it was nice to understand the gist of what was being sung.

The days of true stage spectacles are gone it seems. At least in this case. No elaborate sets … the changing scenes are projected onto the panels at the back of the stage … more to reflect the ambiance of the moment. No horses rushing onto stage … no elephants joining them either. That said, the triumphal scene had something like 150 actors, dancers, chorus members, trumpeters on stage in addition to the main cast, so it was pretty impressive.

Did this more modern presentation of the opera detract from our evening? No. The music was wonderful … the singing beautiful. And unlike the time Mui took his mom to see Aida in Paris, the story had not been modernized to the 21st century and the costumes fit the period in which the story is set.

Speaking of the story, you can Google it for an in depth version. In the meantime, here’s a quick recap.

Aida is an enslaved Ethiopian Princess in the service of Amneris, the Egyptian Princess. She and Radamès, the Egyptian military commander deeply love each other. Princess Amneris also loves Radamès and suspects that he cares for Aida.

When war breaks out between Egypt and Ethiopia, Radamès is chosen to lead the Egyptian army, leaving Aida torn between her love for him and her homeland. Radamès returns victorious, bringing Ethiopian prisoners, including King Amonasro, Aida's father … who is in disguise. The King of Egypt grants Radamès's wish to free the prisoners. As an additional reward, the King also decrees that Radamès will marry Princess Amneris.

Desperate to flee so they can be together, Aida and Radamès meet secretly. Tricked by Aida's father, Radamès unintentionally reveals a secret military route. He can’t forgive himself for being a traitor … though it is unintentional. He does not try to clear his name, and accepts the judgment of the priests that he be condemned to death by being buried alive. Unwilling to live without Radamès, Aida hides inside the sealed stone tomb to die alongside him, and the two lovers pass away together in each other's arms.

I did say that it was a tragic opera.

Oh, yes. Mui’s other memory from his first Aida experience.

They were returning home after the performance when they walked past some women. When 8-year-old Mui asked his mom who they were, she was at a loss as to how to explain that they were prostitutes. His aunt stepped in and told him they were “buonasera teyzeler” … buonasera = good evening in Italian; teyzeler = aunts in Turkish!!!

No, we did not see any “buonasera teyzeler” on the way home tonight 😂.Læs mere