OPERA: Verdi's Aida at the Met

The first thing I enjoyed about the Metropolitan Opera's simulcast of Verdi's Aida was being transported to the story's setting in 3rd millennium B.C.E. Egypt: the costumes and sets were ravishing, right down to the posture of the priestesses. The second thing was the breathtaking ballet, which I learned had been newly choreographed: I loved the lightness with which the women in their ethereal white skirts came down and up, down and up again, like dolls in the hands of the men. The third thing was the ending of the story itself, which I must admit I hadn't known before (stop reading if you'd rather have the ending revealed in real time, which I would say is the preferable way to find out): Aida's final act of love is one for the ages. It was chilling to think how much bravery it must have taken, how much largesse of soul, for her to know that she would die a most excruciating death and yet to accept it for the sake of being with the man she loved at the time when he would be most vulnerable and need human comfort the most. Holy #@#$, what love. True, Radames sort of proved his devotion as well, because he could have lived if he had agreed to Amneris to never see Aida again. But he had an alternative motivation for his choosing the death-sentence, namely his dishonor and guilt over betraying Egypt. Aida's last act, in contrast, had but one motivation. It was a stunning thing she did.