Stu's visit to Egypt (year 2)
10/15/02
Quick. Name a famous opera. The only one I could think of featured Bugs Bunny giving Elmer Fudd a scalp massage to which Fudd responded by throwing lightning bolts and singing "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!" The rock-opera "Tommy" comes to mind also, but I think purists would argue against it. And I learned that "Phantom of the Opera" is actually NOT an opera at all. (Apparently Andrew Lloyd Webber isn't Italian enough.)
So, you can imagine my excitement when I went to see Verdi's Aida performed outdoors in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza.
You are probably having one of two reactions. One is that you are rereading the sentence in disbelief to check that you have read the opera title correctly. The second is that you are rereading the sentence to see which word might be an opera title. I hope there are at least a few people in the first category because the reason I went was to impress those folks. Unfortunately, I think I may have wasted my time because undoubtedly, the vast majority of my friends and family belong to the second group.
If I have to explain who the famous Guiseppe Verdi is and how the opera Aida is set in ancient Egypt and tells a story of an unrequited love triangle between the Pharaoh's daughter, her Ethiopian slave girl and the brave warrior Ramsnesis then the "oooh" factor is lost on you. In fact, you're already yawning after even a brief description. (I dozed off after reading three sentences of the synopsis. That was a week before the performance started.)
Maybe I went for the wrong reasons. I only went so that if I am ever at a party and I get trapped in a conversation about opera I can say that I saw Aida at the Pyramids. It never occurred to me that under normal circumstances I can expect never to be in a conversation about opera in my entire life. It hasn't happened yet and I can't think of a circumstance that would be so desperate that I would be discussing opera. I would have excused myself from that circle long before and joined the group reciting lines from Monty Python movies. So perhaps my mindset wasn't quite right to enjoy an evening at the opera.
First of all, let me give credit to the performers. I'm sure they practiced all day for the show and I don't want to detract from their fine efforts. It is probably the fault of the script that they were given to work with. Although I thought they were a bit over-dramatic at times, their voices certainly were loud. The orchestra did a good job too, but were consistently upstaged by the singers. I didn't recognize a single musical selection which leads me to believe Verdi was known more for his choreography than his composing. I thought four hours was a little long to sit in front of people moving back and forth accomplishing very little, but at least it wasn't as dull as watching a soccer game.
The organizers deserve some kudos too. They had our comfort in mind all along when they made us wait in an adhoc, litter-strewn, gravel parking lot for forty-five minutes thus saving our weary feet from a ten minute, downhill walk. The pageantry was magnificent and who can argue with the setting? The pyramids in the background were magical. On the other hand, it was outdoors. In the desert. On a plateau. At night. A quick geography lesson. Outdoor, desert plateaus are freakin' cold at night. And windy. Luckily a dust storm didn't kick up. The heavy smog probably kept much of the dust down.
Despite the hardships I did enjoy the evening. It's all about experiencing new things. I did not waste seventy-two dollars and four hours of my life as you might think. I have grown as a person and I have learned that opera is not my bag. At least I have earned my bragging rights. I hope I never have to use them.