It is supposed to be a copy of the Berlin Neues Museum bust of Nefertiti but it isn’t immediately recognisable on the DVD, lacking the slimmer proportions of the original, with a shorter neck, and both her iconic helmet and left eye socket are broken as if destroyed. The designer, Mark Thompson, has as his centrepiece, an 18 metre high female head towering over the huge stage. So with Aida, one expects spectacle galore complete with elephants if possible. His wonderful melodies are unforgettable and the Triumphal March with its slow surging phrases and climaxes is surely one of the finest pieces of its type in the Western canon. From the opening Prelude, his use of exotic sounding melodies and interesting instrumental timbres takes us to another ancient world, and I think Aida works its magic on us better if we remain there, rather than being dragged away by contemporary touches as in this production. He manages to combine the grandeur of the stage spectacle of Meyerbeerian proportions and the intimate drama of the love triangle, so that in the huge “production numbers” the principals are present and reacting in such a way that the story progresses. It is tighter with a plot that is easy to follow. Verdi had already composed two grand operas, La Forza del Destino and Don Carlos, and Aida benefitted from this. Latonia Moore – the superb American soprano who plays Aida No wonder the audience just clapped politely.
#VERDI OPERA SET IN ANCIENT EGYPT FULL#
His “Celeste Aida” was full of aspirated onsets and tended to drag. His voice is ageing and he sings without nuances, loudly rather than beautifully.
She is the stand-out in every way on this DVD, and it is unfortunate that the tenor, Walter Fraccaro, singing Radam ès, is no match vocally or dramatically for her. In this production, Aida is Latonia Moore, whose voice has exactly those attributes too. Her voice “was pure, full, delicate but powerful and capable of long smooth phrasing” (p.643, New Grove). Aida was written for Teresa Stolz, who had sung the first Italian Elizabeth in Don Carlos. Verdi always worked closely on the details of every aspect of his operas and he also had a clear vision of how he wanted it staged, and which particular singers to cast. They then sent it to Antonia Ghislanzoni to convert it into Italian verse. Very generous terms were offered, the contract was signed in June 1870, and he and Du Locle started working on the libretto for Aida, in French, at Verdi’s home in Sant’Agata. He said the plot, set in ancient Egypt, whilst not very novel, was “very fine” (New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. Verdi saw its scenic potential immediately. He was asked to compose a grand opera for Cairo’s following season and he initially refused, but Camille du Locle, the librettist of Don Carlos, sent him a story originally written by a French Egyptologist, Auguste Mariette. It was the year the Suez Canal opened and Cairo celebrated the opening of its new Khedivial Opera House with his opera Rigoletto. In 1869, Verdi (1813-1901) was world renowned for his operas.
Latonia Moore has the perfect voice for Aida, and the role of Amneris, sung by Milijana Nikolic, is also wonderfully realised.” Reviewed by: Inge Southcott “The main attraction of this Aida by Opera Australia lies in the splendid singing of the two female leads, rather than in any compelling staging or novel conception of this magnificent late opera of Verdi. Opera Australia Chorus, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestraīrian Castles-Onion (conductor), Gale Edwards (director), Opera Australia (production) Artist(s): Latonia Moore (Aida), Walter Fraccaro (Radamès), Milijana Nikolic (Amneris), Michael Honeyman (Amonasro), David Parkin (Ramfis), Dubinsky (The King Gennadi), Eva Kong (High priestess), Benjamin Rasheed (Messenger)
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