We planned a day close to our apartment as we had tickets for the opera “Aida” tonight. The production is at the newer Bastille Opera House, not the most famous Paris Opera House.
Richard’s ReLive video covered most of our day, so I will let it speak for our activities. Click here to get it: https://www.relive.com/view/vPv41JR513O
Bastille metro stop looking out from in front of the Opera House.
Everything inside and out was modern and comfortable. Our seats were on the outside edge of the row, but we could see clearly. Subtitles in English and French were projected above the stage (the opera is sung in Italian).
This production of “Aida” was also very modern, even if the story was set in 2500 BC. Sets were boxy and moved to change scenes. Video was sometimes projected onto the sets as part of the story.
There was a delay after the third act ended, and finally an announcement was made only in French. I asked the young lady next to us what was happening, and she explained that the singer performing Aida was unwell. They would keep us posted. Many people lost patience and left, but there were also many who stayed. After about 30 minutes, another announcement was made that the performance would go on as an understudy was arriving shortly to finish the performance. Except for the time delay, the character change was seamless.
It was a wonderful evening!
8 Responses
I love this!!!
I bet it was beautiful music and us Barraza’s love when “second” stringers (the understudy) gets a shot at a the big stage 🙂 how did she do?
The music was new to us—I’ve never heard the opera before. However, the story is wonderful and both Aida’s were outstanding! They looked alike and had strong voices; the understudy may not have been quite as strong but she had a real starring role and aced it! Spoiler alert: she dies in her lover’s arms after he is locked in a tomb. They have a stupendous duet before collapsing together.
How fun to see Aida. Glad they were able to finish the Opera. One of our favorites. You are so good at figuring out the transit systems which makes everything so much easier and less stressful. Also hard to imagine what it would be like to “not” have to buy food and prepare meals! Every time we see one of your meals out we are very jealous!! And please don’t show yourselves eating crepes. We must have had the delicious French crepes dozens of meals. Continue to have fun on this adventure! Dan and Wendy
We did enjoy the opera, even though we were out later than we usually are.
The Paris metro system is wonderful and well marked. We may not always get it right the first time, but folks are generally friendly and help.
We’ll keep trying to entice you with all our food choices.
How wonderful to attend an opera on your travels. We have not been to an opera since covid!
We enjoyed the opera in Vienna last year and vowed to go again this year. La Scala in Milan was our first choice, but we missed the window for tickets. Still, I always wanted to see “Aida” since my parents saw it in the Roman amphitheater in Verona, so it was a great second choice. Very interesting production.
The Opera!! I see regular operas with Evelyn in SLC, but have never seen Aida. I’m also a fan of understudies, and I’m glad she got her chance. The protest sign about Toute de Bloc seems to be about the protests that have been increasing this year in France over the government’s austerity measures. These protests have included blocking roads and highways and destroying property. Wiki has quite a bit about it.
The opera was a great experience. Thanks for your translation of the protests—we have certainly seen lots of protests. Good to see people speaking out!