Opera Aida Breaks AUC’s Met Records

A performance of Verdi’s Aida screened live from New York’s Metropolitan Opera won raves among the audience at the Malak Gabr Theater on October 6.

Two hundred tickets were sold for the screening, said Audience Services Manager and Educational Outreach Specialist Nourhan Haffez.

“This is the first time for the Metropolitan at Malak Gabr to have such a number [since 2016],” said Haffez.

Haffez said the high turnout was largely due to Aida’s popularity.

The story of Aida is thought to be the creation of Auguste Mariette, a French archaeologist, who was also the founder of the Egyptian Museum. The four-act opera is composed by Giuseppe Verdi, and is set in Egypt.

The story revolves around an Ethiopian princess, Aida, who lies about her identity. She then becomes a slave of Amneris, the Egyptian King’s daughter, and later falls in love with an Egyptian General, Radames, who is also secretly in love with her.

Aida is considered by critics and audiences alike to be the epitome of opera performances. Many Egyptians feel attached to it, and it is probably why they wanted to attend the live streaming, Haffez explained.

She also said the event was heavily publicized on multiple media platforms, and on campus via email ,posters and flyers.

“Social media is really the key. You know, this generation is focusing more on getting their news through social media,” added Haffez.

AUC President Francis Ricciardone attended Opera Aida, and talked to The Caravan about campus access to the Metropolitan Opera.

“It’s expensive. We need a satellite transmission, we need certain hardware and software, etc. However, the most expensive part is the rights to it,” Ricciardone said.

The president said that he received the rights to stream the popular opera from his friend Mahmoud Abdallah, a member of the Board of Directors at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Emphasizing Abdallah’s role in bringing the historic Metropolitan Opera to AUC, Ricciardone said: “He told me, ‘Frank I’m going to give a gift to AUC, and you must accept it. I know there aren’t many here who like the opera, but I want to introduce it. It would be a good exposure for students, and will enliven the arts scene on campus’.”

After securing the rights to stream the opera on campus, administration decided to upgrade the Malak Gabr Theater.

“We got a special screen, that’s brighter and bigger. We also put speakers behind it, so we can hear the music coming from the stage,” said Ricciardone.

Nour Ibrahim, a sophomore majoring in Theatre, and a member of “this generation” who attended the screening said that she enjoyed Aida.

“It’s an experience that you can’t have unless you travel, and it’s brought to us here. It even shows you a translation, so you can understand the story while listening to the music,” she said.

According to the university website, the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD has since 2006, transmitted broadcasts from numerous operas, aiming to reach new audiences around the world. It is streamed live in more than 2,000 theaters in 70 different countries each season.

AUC is the fourth institution in Egypt to participate in the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD program. The program has been broadcast to the Technical University of Berlin in El Gouna, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Cairo Opera House and finally the Malak Gabr Arts Theater at AUC.

Co-organized by the Office of the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Arts, a total of nine more operas will be broadcast at AUC, for the 2018 – 2019 season.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend all of them, because I’m traveling a lot for AUC, but I will make sure to attend as much as I can,” noted Ricciardone. 

The upcoming screenings are: “La Fanciulla del West” on October 27, “Marnie” on November 10, “La Traviata” on December 15, “Adriana Lecouvreur” on January 12, Carmen on February 2, “La Fille du Régiment” on March 2,  “Die Walküre” on March 30, and “Dialogues des Carmélites” on May 11.

“We hope that the turnout to the upcoming screenings to be as good as this, if not even better,” said Haffez.