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AidaRating:
Release Date: 16 July, 2002 Retail Price: $29.99 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $3.00! Cast: |
Aida Reviews
Truly Celeste Aida!!!
Last night I kicked back to watch, for the first time, the much-talked about Aida from the Verdi Centenary Celebration in his hometown of Busseto.
Franco Zeffirelli designed and directed and while he's so often accused (and often rightly so) of excess, the tiny 350 seat Busseto opera house, does simply not allow for big anything. The end result is that Zeffirelli seemed to take all of his creative power and infuse it into a spectacular small scale production where all of his big ideas shine through in his intense work with what has to be the youngest professional cast of any Aida
at any time in history.
In some reviews Scott Piper is criticized as having too small a voice, but wow what he does with it. It's a beautiful (gorgeous) sound not unreminiscent to me of the young Pavarotti, sharing that same "sun of Italy" brightness that made the superstar's
voice so individualistic and well loved. His Celeste Aida is, quite simply, sung with such beauty of tone and attention to detail that I played it twice more before moving on. Handsome and boasting a sort of "Blacktino" heart throb appearance, his Radames is a very involved, physically appealing boy warrior
caught up in his own hype. It's a thoroughly moving idea and it works like a charm here.
My new favorite YAM (Young American Mezzo) Kate Aldrich (a native Mainer!) is an Amneris of great physical and vocal beauty, and who throws a bit of 1920's silent film vamp into her gait that is amusing, appealing and not inappropriate here. Aldrich was only 26 with this Amneris but her sound belies her
age with a rich, velvety chest voice that dips deep
into the lower range with astonishing ease. In addition to her warm lower range, Aldrich also boasts top notes that are clear, ringing and rival the soprano's. An expressive actress, its nothing short of astonishing watching her pouty, spoilt-child Princess develop into a compassionate observer, awakened to
the brutality of her civilization. For once Amneris's shouts at the priests (paraphrased: You call yourselves ministers of heaven, but you feed on blood and slaughter) ring with a horrifying recognition that signifies the end of innocence. The final image as with the temple priestesses she invokes the gods for peace, we've witnessed an entire journey of development and
transformation. A truly remarkable performance.
Adina Aaron has a lovely radiance, but, I found just a hint of blandness to her performance in the first and part of the second acts. (I realize just how difficult it is to look "forlorn" for so long - something that rarely comes without years of stage experience which this singer simply hasn't had the benefit of.) She grows increasingly better with every appearance however,
and in the Nile Scene she comes into her own blazing with an intensity and sensuality rare in any Aida. This Aida pours on a seduction I have never quite witnessed before in this opera (or, really, ever even thought about) and it works. Radames is helpless as Aida sings, reaching into his already open tunic. Their kiss following "A noi duce fia l'amor" in the duet is not your typical opera stage kiss, but real. All of this, of course, would mean nothing if they couldn't carry it off musically and
the happy news here is the entire duet is ravishingly sung. The Italians loved it and applaud a good long while as the lovers grows more passionate and Aida's arm encircles and tightens around Radames' neck. Look out, hot stuff comin' through!
The costumes and heavy ancient Egyptian eye make up make everyone look beautiful and as though they'd all just popped off of an ancient painting on a papyrus. Zeffirelli presents a lot of new fangled ideas with old fashioned gestures to create an Aida that is artistically stunning and dramatically resonates with a lot of what's going on in the world today. His cast - from top to bottom - is gorgeous to look at and a better acted Aida would be hard to find.
The young Italian Maestro Massimiliano Stefanelli conducts with a brisk �lan that sweeps everything along wonderfully, crisp and fresh, yet knows when to linger over a phrase or extend the line for a singer having a "moment." He has a field day with the Triumphal Scene and the sound coming from both the tiny stage and the pit of the theatre is amazing!
The whole thing (the sets really are an amazing achievement of old fashioned painted flat drops combined with 3-D set pieces that deceive the eye brilliantly) and works so well for the television screen that it almost feels made for it. I knew the theatre was small, but it's not until the entire company is lined up for a bow that one realizes how tiny the place is!
It struck me at one point that the three principals of this most Italian of operas, were all young American singers, singing in an Italian house - and the Italians absoltuely loved them! Pretty sweet. And pretty hopeful!
This Aida goes straight to the top of the list!
Numinous...
This is a lovely production, intimate rather than stupendous. The sets, costumes, direction.... okay, the orchestra isn't the Met's, the singers are not seasoned, but altogether, this bunch makes an Aida better than the Met video with Domingo and Millo. I missed the elephants in that one, but I didn't even miss the horses in this one. Moreoever, the horses and chariots in the Met performance were the same, merely going round and round.LOL
What was touching was that no one was singled out for curtain calls, the cast, et al. appearing as a group. There was one stand-out singer, Kate Aldrich, who sang Amneris. Scott Piper's Radames and Adina Aaron's Aida just couldn't really compare with the the gloriouis voice of Aldrich. Scott and Aaron will grow, but I doubt they'll ever make it into celebrated singers.
Interestingly enough, those three are Americans -- what? -- Bergonzi couldn't find any Italians? Never mind, this is a wonderful experience and I gave it five stars because it was the little engine that did.
Nancy Eckert
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