Aida at the Verona Arena reminds us why being Italian should make us proud
If the heart of Italy pulsates in the world on the arias of Aida, the soul of this universal fascination dwells in Verona which, with its two-thousand-year-old Arena and its century of Belcanto, has placed itself on the same grandiose and seductive level as the other great Italian cities that have always enchanted the universe. Guiglia's notebook
To celebrate its first hundred years of opera seasons, the Arena has chosen one of Verdi's masterpieces – Aida, a happy choice: another desperate love in the city of Romeo and Juliet -, broadcast worldwide with the encouragement of the Frecce Tricolori, which painted the sky of Verona at sunset in green, white and red. Symbolic godmother of the event Sophia Loren, the Italian actress still the most acclaimed in the world today. The interpretation of the Mameli anthem with the singers dressed in the three colors of our national flag was moving.
Faced with such a concentration of Italian excellence, it was natural to request the equally exceptional value of the international artists who have given life, and above all a voice, to one of the most represented Italian operas. Starring the Russian soprano and champion Anna Netrebko.
It is as if from the 2,000-year-old ancient Roman amphitheatre, which has hosted open-air operas for a century like nowhere else on the planet, a natural call arose for great personalities invited to tell the meaning of life on stage. Which is both melodrama and triumph, a story of war and love, of lost and never forgotten homelands: the celestial Aida.
But it will also be necessary to remember that so much beauty given to the world live on Rai-TV has its solid roots well planted in Verona.
With its 2,000-year-old Arena and its century of Belcanto, Verona has placed itself on the same grand and seductive level as Venice and Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo, the great cities that have always enchanted the universe. Verona, the pearl set among diamonds.
How important it is to know how to cultivate the right pride in oneself. Especially when pride is perceived, shared and recognized by others as well.
If the heart of Italy beats in the world on the arias of Aida, the soul of this universal fascination lives in Verona.
So let us grasp the exemplary teaching that comes from the invocations of Radamès, from the tears of Amneris, from the pain of Aida.
It is the boundless and popular language of Italian music and of a 19th-century opera that plays in the present, handing down passions and feelings as only Verdi, a great Italian, was able to do.
Italy at the center of the world and Verona at the center of Italy "for a hundred years in one night".
(Published on L'Arena di Verona )
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/aida-arena-verona-orgoglio-italia/ on Sat, 24 Jun 2023 05:03:10 +0000.