Verdi refused to write an overture
for Aïda, or rather he first wrote a simple prelude
and then replaced it with a potpourri variety
overture but in the end refused to play it
because of its “pretentious insipidity”—
his words, or his words translated into English.
What is translation? What is “insipidity”
in Italian? Aïda is an Ethiopian princess
who is captured and enslaved in Egypt.
It’s a story of love and power but then
what story isn’t? O patria mia. My dear country.