Saturday 1 May 2010

Aida in black and white, or how Egypt is the exotic

The new AIDA in Royal Opera House, London.

It is not the same discussion of why is Aida black and Amneris often white. This time it is about the pyramides, or rather the lack of them. It ain't Egypt without them, that is what some critic say. Still some of the same critics finds it natural and "Egyptian" (exotic, you know) to have bloody pagan rituals and erotic dances. It seem typical for the White eye that Egyptian can be replaced by Aztec or another exotic location/race. How interesting? Not.

(I have not seen this production.)

AIDA: ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, COVENT GARDEN

Express.co.uk - William Hartston - ‎Apr 28, 2010‎
THERE WAS a heavy police presence outside the Royal Opera House on Tuesday night as Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall paid a ...

New Aida ditches pyramids for bloody pagan rituals

Reuters UK - Mike Collett-White, Steve Addison - ‎Apr 28, 2010‎
LONDON (Reuters) - Egyptian pyramids and elephants have made way for ethnic violence, pagan ritual and death in the Royal Opera House's blood-filled, ...

Blood, sweat and sacrifice in Aida

This is London - Barry Millington - ‎Apr 28, 2010‎
Aida without the pyramids and elephants? Is that not an oxymoron? But it's precisely what David McVicar was ...

Verdi Aida, Royal Opera House, London

Independent - Edward Seckerson - ‎Apr 28, 2010‎
The ancient rituals begin as soon as Verdi's ethereal strings start tracing out their yearning opening motif. No candy coloured chiffon, ...
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At the same time there is an outrage about an Harvard Law Student sending an e-mail explaining who she believes that Black people are less intelligent than White. To tell an adult woman that her belief is false and racist is to some people worse than that a person holding this kinds of belief is very close to a job where she will decide who gets legal help. Who knew that Harvard was not island insulated against racism etc? (No man is an island, indeed)

For Whom the Bell Curves: Harvard Law Student Says Blacks Are Dumber Than ...

Huffington Post (blog) - ‎18 hours ago‎
A recent email by Harvard law student Stephanie Grace allegedly asserts, "I absolutely do not rule out the possibility that African Americans are, ...
Suite101.com - The Daily Princetonian




For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com

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