Aida

On JULY 19, 2003 AIDA (nee Lanci) HELFRICH beloved wife of the late Paul Helfrich, loving mother of Douglas D. Ryan, devoted grandmother of Sean and Amy Ryan, also survived by her brother Joseph Lanci. Services and interment private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Stella Maris Hospice.

Annapolis Opera opened its 40th season with Giuseppe Verdi's 26th opera, "Aida," a performance that emphasized the music of this grand opera in an intimate setting that made a full staging impossible. Marking his 30th season as artistic director, Ronald J. Gretz chose to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Verdi's birth with the composer's monumental work in concert form. In contrast to the dazzling spectacle of a fully staged "Aida," we enjoyed the glorious music in the smaller Maryland Hall setting.

Aficionados of Piccolo's in Columbia - which closed a year ago - are getting an encore of some of their favorite Piccolo's dishes at the new AIDA Bistro & Deli. Several folks from the defunct Italian eatery are now in the kitchen at AIDA, also in Columbia. Owners Mary and Joe Barbera brought on board former Piccolo's chefs Michael Wagner and Fred Eklund - as well as pasta maker Anna Alfeo. "We [Columbians] only get chain-restaurant food, so there's been no great Italian fare [since Piccolo's closed]

On Thursday night, the wait staff at Columbia's Iron Bridge Wine Co. will be wear bright pink T-shirts declaring, "I'd rather be eating at Aida Bistro & Wine Bar . " The unusual endorsement is a make-good on a fundraising challenge issued by Iron Bridge owner Steve Wecker to fellow restaurateurs during April's Pink Plate Specials fundraiser for Howard County's Blossoms of Hope project. The challenge -- to raise more money than Iron Bridge -- was met by Aida owners Joe and Mary Barbera, who raised almost $6,000 more than Iron Bridge did for Blossoms of Hope , the cherry-tree beautification project in Howard County that raises awareness for breast cancer.

First there was Giuseppe Verdi, then came Elton John. Both composers have had a go at the story of Aida, the Nubian princess whose Egyptian captor falls in love with her. Verdi composed the opera Aida. More than a century later, John wrote the music for the pop Broadway musical of the same name. The touring production of the Broadway show, which has lyrics by Tim Rice, begins a six-week engagement at Washington's Kennedy Center Tuesday. Set partly in modern days and partly in ancient Egypt, the libretto (by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls and David Henry Hwang)

Aida Bistro is one of those versatile restaurants that can be as dressy or as casual as you want it to be. The very good Italian fare works well for special occasions -- and for ordinary days when you just want some good, filling pasta. Almost hidden from view in the depths of the ubiquitous Columbia strip mall, Aida provides an airy, sleek setting where suits are appropriate, from Armani to sweat (although we agree with Jerry Seinfeld that wearing the latter in public is basically saying that one has given up)

Aida, the operatic equivalent of a widescreen, adventure-romance film, owes a large part of its lasting popularity to big scenery and volume. The second act Triumphal March, staged with or without battalions of supernumeraries and assorted zoological specimens to engage the eye, is the most obvious blockbuster element in a piece punctuated by rousing trumpets and choral outbursts. Not to mention opportunities for anything-you-can-sing-I-can-sing-louder competitions among the principals.

J. Ernest Green and the Annapolis Chorale ended their 35th season on the highest possible note with two Aida performances last weekend, performed with the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists. The collaboration exceeded even expectations raised by a news release promising "opera like you've never heard it before," with a 160-voice chorus and "an international cast of opera stars who will launch a new world tour from Annapolis." Such heady stuff was nearly impossible to imagine happening at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

Aida, Giuseppe Verdi's operatic take on love and loyalty in ancient Egypt, will be shown on the big screen Wednesday at the Charles Theatre, in a production filmed at Milan, Italy's famed Teatro alla Scala and directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Presented through high-definition digital projection, Aida is the first in a series of famous operas, performed in some of the world's premier venues, to be presented through June. Showtime is 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Charles, 1711 N. Charles St. An encore screening at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 includes an introduction by WBJC's Jonathan Palevsky.

Aida, which sits in an office park on the eastern fringes of Columbia, has a split personality. On the one hand, it is a slightly upscale and very good Italian restaurant with a top-notch wine list. On the other, it is a reasonably priced, and also very good, Italian deli/carryout. Located ominously next to a Weight Watchers outlet, Aida's carryout has an industrial-chic appearance -- bare concrete floor, exposed ducts and wiring, and groovy small, purple lamps hanging down over a few tables.

Annapolis Opera is on fire with excitement about its 40th-anniversary season. That much is evident from its season brochure — the company's best ever — on which a flaming "V" proclaims a celebration of the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi's birth. Italy's pre-eminent composer will be honored at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis Opera's productions of two masterworks — a concert version of "Aida" and a fully staged "Rigoletto. " This season also celebrates the 25th annual Vocal Competition, which introduces outstanding young singers from the Mid-Atlantic region who compete for more than $10,000 in total prizes.

It's been just about a year since the Aida Bistro folks packed up their pots and moved to their new location. The effort has evidently paid off, as business was brisk on two recent visits.   There's a spacious feel when you enter the front door into the wine bar, which boasts high-top tables where you can sit and sip and wait to be seated in the main dining room. (Or just stay right there and sip and eat.) Behind the bar is a glassed-in “cellar,” where the dozens of wines, stored in kegs rather than bottles (to reduce the carbon footprint, we're told)

Say you're a teenager. It's June and summer is ready to roll around. You have a few choices. You can get a summer job, spend your summer sleeping in late and hanging at the pool, or go right back into a school building and learn more. Few would probably choose the last example. But spending the summer inside a school building is exactly what kids from the around the region are doing as part of the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' annual Teen Professional Theatre. And from the popularity of the program, it seems most kids couldn't imagine a better way to spend their summers.

Call it kismet. The new AIDA Bistro & Wine Bar is a delicious convergence of what can happen when a visionary restaurateur duo embraces innovation, beauty and environment and can still dish up an award-winning dining experience. By moving to a larger free-standing building on Columbia Gateway Drive four months ago, AIDA Bistro created a wine bar gathering spot, flanked by dining rooms decorated in an art-deco-meets-Tuscany style. Best of all, the restaurant has a dedicated room for its “green” wine delivery system that forgoes bottles, corks and labels.

In December, Mary and Joe Barbera relocated Aida Bistro & Wine Bar , their forward-looking, season-following and enduringly popular Italian restaurant, from its original strip-center home to a free-standing building, just across the way in a sprawling Columbia office park. The original location had the intimate feel of a family-run bistro, but it always lacked a few things that the Barberas wanted, principally enough kitchen space to sustain a lunchtime operation and a bar area where people could gather before their meal, or just because they wanted a nice space to meet friends for a glass of wine and a bite to eat. The new Aida location has kitchen space galore and a lovely self-contained wine bar, and the move looks, at this early stage, to be a positive one. Aida was full on the eve of Howard County's winter dining promotion, both in the main dining room and in the bar. The bar area, with seating for 40 at tables and the bar, is an inviting space.

Aida Bistro & Wine Bar closed its original location of six years on Thanksgiving Eve. One week later, on Dec. 2, Mary and Joe Barbera reopened a new Aida across the way in Columbia Gateway office park. The new location gives the Barberas a few things they always wanted but were never able to have in their loyally followed and well reviewed Italian restaurant. An expanded kitchen allows them the extra space they always wanted to add a lunch operation. Aida had always been a dinner-only location, and Joe Barbera knew he was losing out on the potential business from his business park neighbors.

Two dozen Anne Arundel countians who wanted to hear opera at its grandest in the land of Verdi and Puccini planned a pilgrimage to the Arena di Verona.And in mid-July we had the ultimate opera experience during four nights in Verona, hearing glorious voices and seeing spectacular productions on the enormous stage.Marking the 77th season of summer festivals at the fabled Arena di Verona, the 1999 season features a new production of Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida," together with Georges Bizet's "Carmen," Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" and Franz Lehar's operetta, "The Merry Widow," with Andrea Bocelli.

Aida - not the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, but a rock musical by Elton John - is the current production at Toby's Dinner Theatre. The show is a tragedy about doomed lovers in ancient Egypt. s Dinner Theatre, 5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, presents Aida through Nov. 20. Information or reservations: 410-730-8311 or 800- 888-6297.

With its homemade pastas, early interest in seasonal ingredients and responsible sourcing, and enthusiasm for wine, Columbia's Aida Bistro and Wine Bar has had a successful run, earning a loyal clientele and good reviews over the past eight years. So if you asked owners Joe and Mary Barbera if there is anything they'd want to change about Aida, they'd say: YES! For one thing, the kitchen has always been too small for Aida to fully accommodate a lunchtime business, and the bar is only big enough for a few people to dine at, with no room for gathering and mingling.

Instead of "bravo," the final sendoff for the Baltimore Opera Company will be an auctioneer shouting "sold." The giant Sphinx-head that once stared down on the glittery Triumphal March in Aida, the carefully detailed cathedral where Tosca sang a love duet with her painter boyfriend, the scaffold that awaited Mary, Queen of Scots - all sit wrapped up in a warehouse. They, along with hundreds of vivid costumes, props and other remnants of the company, will soon go to the highest bidder. It's a far-from-grand finale for one of the city's oldest cultural treasures.