Verdi’s Aida intriguingly up to date by the Royal Opera House | Theatre | Entertainment | EUROtoday
I’ve seen Canadian director Robert Carsen’s imaginative manufacturing of Aida thrice now and I’m nonetheless not sure whether or not I approve of it. Many see Aida because the grandest of all grand operas.
Set by Verdi within the kingdom of historical Egypt round 2,500 BC, the setting is modified by Carsen into an unspecified army dictatorship in trendy occasions, which predictably produces conflicts between what we see on stage and the phrases which are sung.
The Grand March, for instance, which previously has been extravagantly staged with pyramids and/or elephants, is changed into a theatrical show of choreographed army workout routines to impress the Egyptian royalty. Even extra oddly, when Radames is sentenced to be buried alive on the finish, as an alternative of a sepulchral tome, his incarceration is in some form of missile silo.
Remarkably, nonetheless, the brand new model brings out the magnificence of Verdi’s music very successfully as a number of within the solid brilliantly present. Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi introduced an excellent voice and true ardour to the title position however was even outdone by American mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis as Amneris.
The scenes between these two rivals for the love of army chief Radames seethed with emotion and Bryce-Davis displayed the total feelings supplied by her position, from like to scheming and malice towards Aida when she was rejected by Radames.
These two dominated the stage, carefully adopted by Spanish tenor Jorge de León as Radames. The most spectacular male singer, nonetheless, was Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat who was excellent within the smaller position of Amonasro, King of Ethiopia and Aida’s father. The scene by which he menacingly bullies his daughter into betraying Radames was maybe the excessive level of this efficiency.
We are used to listening to the world’s best singers giving their greatest at Covent Garden however this time, the success of the manufacturing owed as a lot to the refrain and the Israeli conductor Daniel Oren. The execution of Carsen’s militaristic theme demanded exact rhythmic actions in scenes various from handing out weapons to the army to table-laying for a banquet. The method these had been carried out emphasised the exact rhythms and energy of Verdi’s music, which was powerfully performed by the Royal Opera House Orchestra beneath the agency management of Oren.
As I steered, I nonetheless have reservations about Carsen’s time-shifted manufacturing, however I don’t suppose I’ve ever appreciated the magnificence of Verdi’s music a lot.
Aida is enjoying on the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden till 12 February.
Box workplace: rbo.org.uk or 020 7304 4000
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/2009192/aida-opera-review-royal-opera-house