Aida

On August 23 we attended our first opera and we were suitably impressed. The costumes and sets were sumptuous and the cast was spectacular. The part that totally blew me away was the voices. There was a full orchestra and I was surprised to learn that opera singers do not use microphones. So even though we were WAY up in the nosebleed section we heard every word. It was just astonishing!

Glorious pageantry, rousing choruses, and a basketful of great tunes elevate the moving tale of forbidden love between general and slave girl in ancient Egypt. The grandest of all grand operas, Aida is also an intensely personal love story overflowing with passions as up to the minute as our own. Verdi’s power to translate human emotion into magnificent music was at its zenith when he created this highly original and enjoyable masterwork, arguably the best evening’s entertainment he ever devised. (Summary from the Seattle Opera)

The other interesting aspect of opera is how much longer it is than say a Broadway show. Aida was 3 hours and 22 minutes with two intermissions. 

Things I have learned - place your drink order before the first intermission and go ahead and get that snack you eyed at the first intermission at the second. We picked up a really neat poster that has the dates the show ran (something you can't get at a Broadway show) and a great book that had the sound recording, history and libretto of the production. 

We are really looking forward to our season at the Seattle Opera!