Second Attempt: Aida Opera in Verona

After my Carmen experience, was it safe to try another opera in 'iffy' weather in Verona? Well, I have often thrown caution to the wind.. (see the Blog entry for June 22nd)

The next night(June 20th), Verdi’s Aida played at the Arena, and this time, I went by myself, and Carl and Carol needed to prep for an early departure for Rome the next morning. The opera begins at 9:15, and I knew Aida was a long one, and would run to approximately 1 a.m. in the morning).

The sky was forebodingly dark, so I left the apartment with umbrella and multiple layers in my tote bag. The rain held off even with the rain clouds overhead. Here you can see some images taken during the performance. It amazes me how the sets can be changed in a day, but alas, this is a repertoire opera, and they are used to the process.

Here you have the stage as it was set. People are getting settled in their seats before the opera.


Here are two images taken during the opera. Ballet was included in parts of the story.




Note the large cast. There were soldiers with real torches perched around the top of the wall of the arena, and real fires burned in various places at entrances for the cast. There were well over 200 people on stage.