Heavens to Betsy, it's Aida!

Today we got to see the San Diego Opera's production of Aida. This is grand opera in a not so grand production. The Triumphal Scene left something to be desired. The stage was filled but it still seemed small. They had about 20 Ethiopian prisoners and most of them were women and children. They didn't seem to be much of a threat to the Egyptians. I'd like to see it at the Met.

The singers were hard to hear much of the time. Amneris seemed to hold back until the end. When she had her big scene during Rademes' trial she finally sounded good. I had a hard time hearing Aida and Rademes over the orchestra except for the tomb scene where things are rather quiet.

During "Celeste Aida," I was having a very hard time hearing Rademes and I cupped a hand around an ear but that didn't help. At one point he either forgot the words and just mumbled some syllables or was just way too quiet.

Years ago we went to an opera where a person sitting next to us literally cupped his ears in order to hear better. He had some Dixie cups that he had cut some notches in and hooked them onto his ears. I wonder if that helped. And I wonder if he carried Dixie cups with him to the theater all the time. He sure looked goofy but it was in the back row of the theater so nobody should have seen his improvised hearing aids.