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Verdi: Aida / Urmana, Alagna, Chailly [Blu-Ray] (2008)

Conductor: Riccardo Chailly | Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Composer: Giuseppe Verdi | Label: Decca

Subtitles: English, German, Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish

Genre: Opera

This December 2006 Aida from La Scala offers some fine singing but as often happens in a Franco Zeffirelli staging, the scenery and directing vie with its purely musical aspects. Little wonder, given the sumptuous sets, spectacular crowd scenes, and the masses of scenic and acting details more common to a movie than a stage performance. Zeffirelli populates the La Scala stage with enough statuary to fill the Egyptian wing of a large museum. Huge busts of Pharaonic figures loom above the singers, a wall covering the back of the stage is full of detailed relief figures drawn from ancient Egyptian relics, and when singers, dancers, chorus, and extras populate the stage during the Triumphal March, it seems like all of Thebes turned out for the celebration. The Nile scene is relatively pared down while neatly suggesting the mystery of the scene and focusing attention on the dramatic confrontations of the principal actors. By the time we arrive at the final tomb scene, the dying hero and heroine are seen through the darkness while above them, the priests and priestesses of the Pharoah’s court invoke their deity. But while the detailed stage direction and sets are important, any Aida requires four world-class singers to make its maximum impact.

La Scala, as befits a season-opening performance, fields a worthy crew. Top honors go to the eponymous heroine, for Violeta Urmana demonstrates a soprano voice impressive in its evenness, her ease at the top of her range and her rich bottom notes. She won’t make you forget her famed predecessors in the role, but she’s definitely worth hearing. The same might be said of Roberto Alagna, the Radames. He left the production after the performances filmed here because of audience booing, but aside from a strained Celeste Aida his singing here is quite good, with sensitive phrasing and some lovely soft singing in the Tomb Scene.

The Amneris, Ildiko Komlosi, dominates the stage in her scenes as the imperious Pharaoh’s daughter. Like her rival for Radames’ affections, Aida, she won’t erase memories of other fine Amneris’ but she’s a definite plus in this production. Less so is Carlo Guelphi, the Amonastro, rough of voice and generalized in his singing and acting. Smaller parts are capably done and the La Scala Orchestra is alertly led by Ricardo Chailly. He paces the opera with vigor, exposes details of the score often overlooked, and draws some ravishing playing from the strings.The ballet sequences are done with a Hollywoodish touch that fits the production, but the video direction of Patrizia Carmine will draw some boos from home viewers. There are frequent fades to swirling, out-of-focus details of stage décor, veils and materials, accelerating in later scenes to become annoying distractions, especially since they often occur in mid-aria, sabotaging the musical flow and diverting attention from the singers. Still, this is a worthy production of a great opera.

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Reviewed by Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE on DVD release: This is a great Aida, the very best I’ve seen on DVD. It is both a pleasure and a surprise, then, to report that this Aida is the very best I’ve seen on DVD. For me, it is an even greater surprise, because two of the most positive contributors to this production are conductor Riccardo Chailly and director Franco Zeffirelli. Regular readers know I generally dislike Zeffirelli’s overly busy productions, and I’ve never understood what others heard in Chailly’s conducting. Aida is just about the left vessel in which to pour Zeffirelli’s talents, however, and my 10-year hiatus from Chailly has led to a change either in my hearing or in his conducting, for I’ve never been so gripped by Aida as a musical totality as I have been here. True to form, Zeffirelli crams every inch of the La Scala stage with eye candy, but what candy! This is a traditional staging, but one in which every conceivable Egyptian accessory, authentic or not, contributes to the spectacular whole. Even the dancing, which is such an embarrassment in so many productions, is welcome here, so kudos as well to choreographer Vladimir Vassiliev, and to the members, old and young, of the La Scala ballet. The little kids dancing in Amneris’s bedroom are adorable, and Roberto Bolle’s memorable solo turn in the Triumphal Scene well justifies his appearance during final curtain calls. Chailly’s conducting, full of nuance and drama, is the very opposite of routine. There are times when I wish he would have lingered a little more (the end of Judgment Scene, for example), but his tempos never feel rushed, and he leaves enough time to bring out telling orchestral colors, such as the groaning double basses as Radamès is led away to trial. The singing is never unworthy of Chailly’s and Zeffirelli’s work, although it is the women, Urmana and Komlosi, who are this production’s stars. They have large voices, but they both use them with sensitivity, although I suppose one could cite Komlosi for over-reliance on chest tones. (Still, it’s pretty darn exciting!) Urmana’s bright voice maintains its steadiness up to a gleaming top, and if there’s one thing that’s missing from her singing—and from Komlosi’s too, to a lesser extent—it’s variety of color. In other words, don’t look for keenly insightful singing, but if you’re looking for a healthy sound and temperament, Urmana and Komlosi will satisfy. There’s a lot of standard operatic gesturing in their acting, but they try, and that counts for something. As Radamès, Alagna certainly is not a disaster, although he feels a size too small for the role. “Celeste Aida” starts off too loudly and only gets louder, and there is no diminuendo on the final B♭. He’s at his best when he isn’t trying to puff himself up; the Tomb Scene is touching, despite Alagna’s lachrymose inflections. There’s not much acting here either, but at least Alagna is manly in his stoicism. Guelfi’s old-fashioned Amonasro is rough, with a tendency to shout and to wobble. The Ramfis, Giorgio Giuseppini, sings well but is forgettable. Marco Spotti’s King, on the other hand, stands out; here’s a ruler who can make his subjects listen! The chorus and orchestra are on top form throughout. What’s a little disappointing about this DVD has nothing to do with the musicianship or the dramaturgy, but with the direction for television and video. Someone has decided that brief, slightly off-focus clips of swirling costumes enhance home viewing, so these have been inserted every minute or two, sometimes superimposed on (or instead of) a singer. I think it’s supposed to be arty, but it absolutely does not work. Also, act III and (especially) act IV are very dark. I don’t imagine this was a problem in the auditorium, but I found it hard to tell exactly what was going on during much of the Tomb Scene. Aïda and Radamès were desperately in need of a Coleman lantern! Apart from the aforementioned problems, this production has transferred very well to video. The sound is excellent too. In fact, I was moved to increase the volume to “live” levels—always a good sign—and I am sure the ringing in my ears will be gone by morning. The controversy surrounding this production might scare potential buyers away from this DVD, but have no fear: this is a great Aida, even though it might prove to be a bittersweet souvenir for many who were associated with, or present at, the actual performances.

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Works on This Recording:

1. Aida by Giuseppe Verdi

Performer: Marco Spotti (Bass), Violeta Urmana (Soprano), Ildiko Komlósi (Mezzo Soprano),

Roberto Alagna (Tenor), Giorgio Giuseppini (Bass), Carlo Guelfi (Baritone)

Conductor: Riccardo Chailly

Orchestra/Ensemble: Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus

Period: Romantic

Written: 1871; Italy

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