La Scala: Aida Part Two

As I wrote in my blog post on Wednesday http://lovelifeandferrari.blogspot.com/2012/03/la-scala-aida-part-one.html I had the opportunity to attend my very first opera at the internationally-renowned Theatro alla Scala last Sunday. After electing to spend the night in a moderately-priced but more than adequate hotel and wolfing down a rather unconventional pre-opera meal of a Big Mac and fries, I found myself sitting in one of the best seats in the theatre shortly before the curtain rose. Both in awe and filled with extreme excitement, I prepared myself for what was set to be a magical evening.

Although my seat was just one of six places that were contained within the exquisite room which overlooked the main stage, I was all alone with only several minutes to go before Aida was scheduled to begin. I had just started to wonder if anyone would show up at all when suddenly I heard the door being unlocked by an usher and swung around to be greeted by a middle-aged Japanese businessman. He introduced himself in fluent Italian without a hint of accent and explained that the nature of his job meant that he spent a great deal of time in Milan. Opera, he admitted, had become one of his guilty pleasures over the years. The lights dimmed as he settled into his seat and the final latecomers hurriedly found their places in the dark. The orchestra began to play its opening number, an emotive piece which assured me that I was going to enjoy the performance a great deal before the curtain even rose. When it finally did rise, the set that it revealed was magnificent and the opera’s main protagonists delivered their opening notes to thunderous applause.

For those of you who are not familiar with Aida, it is a Guiseppe Verdi opera that tells the story of an Ethiopian princess, Aida, who is captured and enslaved in Egypt. Although the Egyptians have no idea as to her true identity, she manages to become a servant in the royal household. During this time she falls madly in love with Radames, who is the captain of the king’s guard. Although Radames shares Aida’s feelings of passion, he is also pursued by the king’s persistent daughter, Amneris. The result is the formation of a dramatic love triangle which ultimately leads to the tragic deaths of both Radames and Aida, who fittingly die in one another’s arms in the opera’s final scene.

I had already read a synopsis of the opera before attending the event and was immediately thankful that I had done so because keeping up with the plot would have been virtually impossible if I hadn’t. Although the words to many of the songs were quite repetitive, I still had a difficult time making sense of them and had to glance at the handy personal lyrics screen, which was located directly in front of my seat, from time to time to figure things out.

The first round of solos, which were delivered by Roberto Tagliavini, Luciana D’Intino, Oksana Dyka and Stuart Neill respectively, were all excellently performed judging from the audience’s reaction. I was particularly fond of Stuart Neill’s portrayal of Radames because he was especially emotive and full of energy. The set, props and costumes were also one of the highlights of the opera for me. The Egyptian backdrop gave the designers a license to create the extravagant. Massive statues of Egyptian Gods and pharaohs featured heavily in every scene and the colour palette was filled with sandy yellows and other hues that added texture to the set. There were giant feathers, gold encrusted chariots and fabulous dancers performing on the stage. The costumes were bold and filled with detail. My favourite was without a doubt the look that the king’s personal guards sported. It included gold armour and red garments, bold royal blue body paint and some very fierce-looking spears. When both the vocal and visual elements combined, they created an experience for both my eyes and ears that left me feeling quite satisfied.

When the lights came back on to signal the first intermission, I decided to explore the foyer below and people watch while sipping on a prosecco. Many of the huge crowd in attendance filed their way into the tiny space and chattered amongst one another happily. Much to my surprise, there were all types of people present. There were the tourists wearing floor length gowns, The Milanese, who wore black and little jewellery and even people who were dressed extremely casually. I even saw several men wearing very dark jeans, something that I would have previously imagined to be impossible at La Scala.

Before I had even set out on my journey to Milan, I had taken a chance and emailed well-respected opera blogger, Opera Chic and asked if she would be present at the event. I figured that I had absolutely nothing to lose by asking her to meet up with me during the intermission and everything to gain. After all, who would be a better person to discuss Aida with than an opinionated American who visits La Scala on a regular basis? Unfortunately for me, Opera Chic responded to my inquiry that she would not be attending the evening’s opera, but wished me a pleasant first opera nonetheless.

Weaving my way through the people, I figured that I probably would not find anyone to talk to when I was stopped by a glamorous, blonde woman wearing bright red lipstick and a stunning knee-length Prada dress. I recognised her immediately from the room where my seat was located. She had entered mid-way through the first act and therefore I had paid little notice when she first arrived. She spoke with a thick American accent and we proceeded to have a polite conversation. Before returning to our seats she commented on my outfit, noting that it reminded her of what had just paraded down the Prada runway several weeks before. Later on in the evening I was to discover that she was actually a Prada employee herself and felt instantly like a sophisticated jet-setter as opposed to a starry-eyed girl who pulled a few things together from the back of her closet. Fashion may seem like a trivial thing to some, but for me, I was on cloud nine in that moment!

Once the opera resumed, the final three acts of Aida were just as amazing as the first one. In the most impressive scene of all, a victorious Radames returns to Egypt after fighting the Ethiopians. The scene is known as the “Triumphal March” and as well as being the most powerful vocal number, it was also the most visually spectacular. In addition to a colourful procession, there were beautiful displays of dancing and at one point there were even real horses parading around on the stage.

As the opera neared its climax, the story of Aida and the love of her life, Radames took a tragic turn. In the final acts Radames is discovered disclosing the location of the Egyptian army to Aida’s father, the king of Ethiopia thus betraying his country and sealing his fate. In the final scene of the opera, Ramades is sentenced to be essentially buried alive inside an underground tomb as a result of his treason. Resigned to his fate and with a distraught Amneris weeping above, he enters the tomb to find that Aida has managed to sneak inside. Willingly, she agrees to share Ramades’s fate.

The stage lights dimmed as the two tragic protagonists shared a final embrace. Those in attendance cheered and some even shouted “Bravo! Bravo!” from all around the theatre. I have heard that the crowd at La Scala are often a vocal bunch, even to the point of throwing out boos if they are not fully satisfied. I therefore am fairly sure that I witnessed an outstanding performance of Aida. As the lights turned on and the people who had so eagerly arrived more than four hours earlier began to filter their way out of the building, I took one last look at La Scala. What an enchanting venue and overall what an unforgettable evening. It’s not very often that one talks about achieving perfection, but in this case my La Scala experience came pretty close. My only gripe was that when I finally left, the McDonalds where I had eaten my dinner earlier was already closed. I had yet another craving and it would have been nice to round the evening off with another greasy snack! Oh well, maybe next time.

**On a side note, if you would like to see a few clips from the version of Aida that I just wrote about, go to the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRa1ReiTjtM



La Scala: Aida Part One

As I mentioned in my blog post on Saturday http://lovelifeandferrari.blogspot.com/2012/03/la-scala-surprise.html after discussing my desire to visit the world-famous La Scala opera house with my mother, she surprised me with a ticket to see my very first opera, Aida, on Sunday. Following a great deal of excitement, along with momentary panic over what to wear to the event, I began to plan my trip to the nearby city of Milan where La Scala is located.

I decided to stay in a moderately-priced hotel overnight because the opera was scheduled to finish shortly before midnight and the final train for Lodi leaves Milan around ten minutes after that. There were a lot of hotels located mostly near Milano Centrale train station that were within my price range and after an extensive search I managed to select the one which I believed to be the best value for money. The Hotel Demidoff is a three star hotel which is located literally ten seconds away from the Lima underground station in Milan. http://www.hoteldemidoffmilan.com/ At only 65 Euros a night when booked on the internet, single rooms are a steal considering that most hotels in Milan charge well over 100 Euros for a night’s stay.

On the day of the opera, I made my way into the city at around four in the afternoon. Although Aida did not start until seven thirty in the evening, I decided that I wanted to settle into my hotel first and then head out for a quick meal before it began. Upon my arrival I was pleasantly surprised, not only was the hotel amazingly near to the underground station, but it was both clean and safe. While it is true that my room was a little on the small side and the paper thin walls meant that I could hear everything going on next door, I was extremely satisfied with my selection. After the mandatory exploring of my room and scavenging for free soap and shampoo (admit it, you do it too) I put my pre-selected opera outfit on and paraded around in front of the mirror for several minutes. I felt like a million dollars even though it was just a collection of old bits and pieces from my wardrobe and as I headed to the underground station I felt butterflies of anticipation fluttering around in my stomach.

The Teatro alla Scala is located a few minutes away from the Duomo underground station in Milan. Those of you who have visited the city before will surely be familiar with it as it is home to both the Milano Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The area is a hot spot for tourists and is always busting with activity. When you exit the underground station, you immediately come face to face with the impressive Duomo. Its intricate façade, covered in carefully carved statues, always leaves me in awe no matter how many times I see it. On this occasion, however, I only paused to stare for a brief moment before heading into the Galleria for dinner.

It may seem a bit strange, but after living in Italy for over half a year sometimes the one thing that I find myself craving more than anything is a nice, greasy Big Mac. Luckily for me, amongst the fine restaurants and cafes that are located in the Galleria there is also a McDonalds. As tacky as it may be to wolf down some fast food before attending an opera, I couldn’t help myself and made a beeline for the artery-clogging establishment. To my great amusement once inside I discovered that I wasn’t the only person who planned to devour a hamburger in my best. Men in suits and groups of women wearing elegant dresses and pearl necklaces perched on the uncomfortable chairs in as dignified a manner as possible. I couldn’t help but laugh as I licked a big glob of special sauce off of the tip of my finger. McDonalds, who would have guessed it?

After my rather unconventional pre-opera meal, I ventured through the Galleria towards La Scala, which is located just outside the exit. The building itself does not look overly breathtaking from the outside and one could easily walk right by without ever knowing that it was of particular importance. On this night, however, a crowd of people congregated outside its doors and the few scalpers who were attempting to sell tickets made it obvious that this was the place to be.

When the doors finally opened at around seven o’clock, the audience began to pour into the modest, chandelier-lit foyer and I clutched my ticket firmly. An usher greeted me and pointed me towards the direction of a locked door that was guarded by another attendant. The attendant then unlocked the door and told me to head up the stairs to find my seat. It was all a bit confusing and I began to wonder how on earth I would find the cloak room, let alone my place when there were no real signs pointing me in the right direction. When I saw another attendant, I handed her my ticket and expected to be directed somewhere else. Instead she began to lead me towards yet another locked door and inquired if I wanted to hang my coat up. When I said that I did, she unlocked the room to reveal my own personal walk-in closet. It was all so civilised, with little hooks for my coat and scarf and a stool to sit upon if I needed to change my shoes. I had only been in the building for several moments and already La Scala was making me feel like a queen.

After already being impressed by the convenience of the closet, I continued following the woman towards a short, white door nearby. Once this door was unlocked, I was immediately overwhelmed and I think that I gasped quite loudly. Behind it was a beautiful little room adorned with rich dark red wallpaper that had a direct view of the enormous performance stage. Inside the room were six places to sit; two dark red chairs that were trimmed in gold, two small stools made with the same fabric and two larger stools at the back of the room which matched the rest of the décor. I took a seat in one of the chairs at the front of the room and began to feast my eyes upon the surrounding opera house.

The Teatro alla Scala was huge and there were six floors of rooms exactly like mine which surrounded the stage. People were settling into their seats, chattering amongst one another while excitedly leaning over their balconies and experiencing the atmosphere just like I was. There was a huge chandelier in the middle of the ceiling above that illuminated most of the area below where patrons weaved their way towards the many rows of galleria seats. It was fun to watch their reactions as they entered the theatre for the very first time and I rested my head on the comfortable cushioned velvet ledge in front of me as I took in the beauty. I couldn’t stop smiling and checked my ticket one more time in disbelief. Could my seat really be this fabulous? I felt so incredibly fortunate to be experiencing something that many people all over the world dream about and had to remind myself that this was only just the beginning. There was still an opera to see and it was scheduled to start in less than five minutes.

To be continued…

Be sure to read part two of my La Scala experience on Friday.

La Scala Surprise

Yesterday I received some exciting news. It seems as though I am going to the opera and not just any opera, but an opera at the world famous La Scala theatre in Milan! It all started a few days ago when I was having a conversation with my mother about the critically acclaimed Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the subject of opera came up. My parents have always had a fondness for the arts and throughout my life tried to expose me to exhibitions, ballet and the theatre especially.

As a child I recall being one of those little girls who would dance around in the foyer during the intermission of the Christmas showing of the Nutcracker and remember going to see many plays in London when I lived in England during my youth. One particularly vivid memory that I have is of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. My mother and I had managed to score tickets that were right up near the stage and we were so close that the actors even interacted with us during the performance. At one point a particularly cheeky feline decided that it would be a good idea to steal the Ferrari baseball cap that I was wearing. He snatched it right off the top of my head and proceeded to taunt me with it for several moments, fantastic fun!

While my appreciation of the theatre has been maturing for many years, I have quite shockingly never managed to see an opera. Although I have spent time in both London and Vienna, I never made it a priority to visit either The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden or The Vienna Opera House. When I was younger I didn’t really see the importance of seizing every opportunity in front of me but now that my aim is to live life without regrets, I tend to try anything and everything that takes my fancy. I have always had a fascination with opera simply because it is supposed to invoke extreme emotions and I, as you probably already have guessed, am quite an emotional person. Therefore I promised myself at the beginning of the year that in 2012 I would at long last attend my first ever opera at the most famous opera house in the world.

For those of you who have been to La Scala before, you know that deciding to attend an opera there and actually purchasing the coveted tickets are two different things entirely. First of all tickets always seem to sell out almost the instant that they go on sale and then there is also the matter of the price. While standing tickets are quite reasonable and can be purchased for under twenty Euros, if you want to actually see any of the stage you will end up shelling out over one hundred Euros for one seat alone! This brings me back to the conversation that I was having with my mother. I explained during the course of our conversation that while I would dearly love to go and see the particular opera that I now have a ticket for, I simply could not justify spending so much money on one night alone. Imagine my surprise when the very next day, she had sent me an email letting me know that both her and her partner thought that it was important that I went to see the opera and were prepared to finance the evening! Shortly after receiving the news, I was on La Scala’s website, typing in my name and praying that there were still some tickets available. After a brief moment of pause, I had it right in front of me on the computer screen, confirmation that I would indeed be going to La Scala this year!

After my initial moment of euphoria, my thoughts began to turn towards another matter that I had previously neglected to think about, what does a person wear to an opera at La Scala? Of course I had a few ideas of my own after watching many Hollywood movies over the years and envisioned elegant ball gowns and jewel encrusted tiaras. Sadly for me, I do not own a tiara and while I love the idea of dressing up for an event, the thought of sitting on the train from Lodi in what is essentially a glorified prom dress did not appeal to me. I decided that I would scour the internet for advice and hope that I could get away with wearing something a little more understated.

Thankfully after only a few moments of searching, I came across the perfect article. http://www.wmagazine.com/w/blogs/editorsblog/2010/01/13/how-to-pass-for-a-milanese-at.html The author is a blogger known as Opera Chic. She is North American like I am and from what I have read, has managed to establish herself as an authority on La Scala and opera in general.  In her article, she advises not to go for the tiaras and ball gowns unless you want to look like a tourist. Luckily for me, apparently understated is the way to go in Milan. Following Opera Chic’s advice, I pulled a few pieces out of my wardrobe and managed to combine them into something that should be formal enough for the event and yet not get me confused for an escaped Euro Disney princess.

Overall I am overwhelmingly excited to be attending my first ever opera. If you had told me one year ago that I would be headed to La Scala, I would have never believed you. It just goes to show that if you aren’t afraid to take chances and always remain open to new possibilities, anything is possible. Who knows, maybe this time next year I will be climbing Mount Everest…I’ll keep you posted!