Just before the easter weekend I had the opportunity to attend Verdi's Aida in Johannesburg, South Africa. I had to travel 500km to get there, although, admittedly, that was not the only reason I went there. The performance was by a group called Opera Africa. I walked out of there with mixed feelings: Good: The Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra was magnificent. Most of the soloists' voices were good. The choir was good although too thin in numbers. Bad: (In what follows, my starting point is that even in opera there should be enough realism to entrance me. I admit that some would differ from me). The physical appearance of some of the soloists was such that for me the opera came close to comedy or parody. (But, I guess, this IS a director's problem in opera. They can't select soloists in the same way movie directors would select their lead players. The Anna Moffos, the when-he-was-skinny Pavarottis, the Kathrin Goerings are not that numerous). The costumes were terrible and had no connection with ancient Egypt, nor with anything else, for that matter. It simply looked as if a sparsely equipped costume storeroom had been raided for whatever they had. For example, in the first act, Amneris (a Spanish-looking daughter of an African Pharao) wore horse-riding breeches, later, ballgowns. In Act 2, the Amneris and maidens wore skimpy dress, more embarrassing than sexy. The great march did not happen at all - while the music was playing, an imitation 1940's movie was shown showing Radames' exploits. The decor was sparse. All said and done, at least there was an opportunity to go and watch an opera, a very rare occasion in present-day South Africa. Gerhard http://skoongrappies.com *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html