Friday, January 27, 2012

Aida - What a spectacle!

File:Aida poster colors fixed.jpg

Last weekend I left my house exactly three times: once, in the middle of the snow storm, to go to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Yes, in Chicago, 8 inches of snow does not cancel classical music.  To wit, the CSO was packed. We saw a great show that included three main pieces: 
  • Strauss  Overture to Die Fledermaus 
  • Beethoven  Piano Concerto No. 1
  • Dvořák  Symphony No. 8

  • It was fantastic.  However, I was 75% certain that I was going to freeze to death before we got home.  Fortunately, I am still alive (and blogging) today.  

  • Saturday morning, the snow pretty much cleared out and we ventured out to Trader Joe's to pick up some odds and ends.  We were really just looking for an excuse to get out of the house.  Saturday evening, we headed to the Lyric Opera to see Aida.  I had heard of Aida, but only in that way that you hear about Cats or Fiddler on the Roof - read: I knew nothing about it except that a lot of people like it.  

  • Luckily, the program had a great explanation of the plot, which I thought was much easier to follow than that of the Magic Flute.  In a word, Aida was amazing.  The production and cast were phenomenal.  The arias were beautiful and moving.  I did start to fall asleep toward the end -- it was 3 hours and 35 minutes, with 2 intermissions.  Looooong. But worth it.  

  • If you're curious, Wikipedia has a brief synopsis of it HERE

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