Reposted from my Examiner page. Click for the full article.
Five Operas Set on the Nile
This week marks the Metropolitan Opera's final performances this season of Verdi's Aida and Mozart's The Magic Flute. (And it's Passover.) So let's take a look at five very different operas that are set in the Kingdom of the Pharoahs.
The Magic Flute
Mozart's fantastic tale of a Prince seeking spiritual enlightenment (with help from an itinerant bird-catcher) is rich with Masonic symbolism. Both Mozart and his librettist (Emanuel Schikaneder) were Masons. The Masons are very into pyramids, the number three, and other such symbolism. So it's only natural that the opera is set in Egypt. As to why the Prince enters dressed in a "Japanese hunting costume", you're on your own.
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Original costume design by Auguste Mariette for the premiere of Aida.
Five Operas Set on the Nile
This week marks the Metropolitan Opera's final performances this season of Verdi's Aida and Mozart's The Magic Flute. (And it's Passover.) So let's take a look at five very different operas that are set in the Kingdom of the Pharoahs.
The Magic Flute
Mozart's fantastic tale of a Prince seeking spiritual enlightenment (with help from an itinerant bird-catcher) is rich with Masonic symbolism. Both Mozart and his librettist (Emanuel Schikaneder) were Masons. The Masons are very into pyramids, the number three, and other such symbolism. So it's only natural that the opera is set in Egypt. As to why the Prince enters dressed in a "Japanese hunting costume", you're on your own.
Posted using ShareThis
Original costume design by Auguste Mariette for the premiere of Aida.