Essay/Term paper: On experiencing verdi's aida

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Music

"On Experiencing Verdi's Aida"

Being my first time seeing an opera, I was very much impressed by the whole
production. I did not, however think it was very different than I had
imagined it would be like. Although my opinion would have been much better if
I saw it live, it was a great first impression.

I thought that all of the characters were very well casted. I did
think that even though they were all very talented singers, they could have
used more facial expressions and gestures to play out their emotions to match
the scenes and the music.

Out of all the characters, I liked Aida the most. I thought that she
carried herself very well and gave a fantastic performance. She also had
great chemistry with Radames. Radames too, showed little or no change in his
voice or actions to display the full range of emotions that he experienced.
One of the characters that had no effect on me was Amneris. Her character did
not make very much sense to me because she was cast as a princess and since
Aida was her slave I thought that Amneris did practically nothing to stop
Radames and Aida's love for one another. She did, however, show great
dignity. I felt much compassion for her betrayal and for her loneliness. I
could identify with Amneris very much because I think that we all would act
like that out of jealousy and rage.

The music in Aida was terrific. I thought that they wonderfully designed
the tempo to match the acts. The costumes and scenery were also excellent.
The dances gave great drama and spice to the production. Overall, I thought
that Aida was an enticing journey of nationalistic warship and hierarchy.