Opera Review
A co-production with Houston Grand Opera and the Norwegian National Opera
John Hudson as Radames by Giuseppe Verdi
Conducted by Gerard Korsten, Leo Hussain (1 & 6 November) Set design by Zandra Rhodes Costume design by Zandra Rhodes Lighting design by Bruno Poet, revived by Kevin Sleep Choreography by Jonathan Lunn, revived by Carly Best
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A review by Marion Drew for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Set in Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs, and concerning Egyptian and Ethiopian royalty, Aida tells the eternal story of a love-triangle. Amneris, the reigning Pharaoh’s daughter, is in love with Radames, about to become the Egyptian army’s highest ranking general. He in turn loves Aida, an Ethiopian slave in Amneris’ court, who in reality is herself a princess, daughter of Amonasro, the Ethiopian king whose army is defeated in battle. The story of Amneris’ jealousy and Radames’ devotion to Aida, along with Aida’s torment over the tension between her love for Radames on the one hand and that for her beloved father, the King, and her country on the other, is played out against the backdrop of war and of powerful religious forces. This year’s Aida is a revival of Jo Davies’ production of last year for the ENO, and again, much is being made of fashion designer Zandra Rhodes’ contribution of costumes and settings. Indeed the costumes delivered what Rhodes is famous for, vibrant colour, bold and interesting designs, obviously thoroughly researched. For the female roles these worked very well; gorgeous layered fabrics, diaphanous floating patterns and adornments. The priestly garb was also inspiring, and helped evoke the sense of mysticism and awe in the scenes of sacred rites and gatherings. However, some of the men, Ramphis, Amonasro and the Pharaoh in particular, looked just a little too close to Disney figures stuck into unwieldy colourful tubs to be taken seriously. The same was true of the sets, which although crafted in extraordinarily beautiful colours, had a gaudy, almost Dr. Seussian feel to them, which came across to me more as attempts towards funky ‘sexiness’, rather than providing a visual framework to complement the seriousness of the drama and music. Verdi's story is one of powerful politicians and military figures crushed by an authoritarian priestly class which tragically in this story, has the final say. One of the central concerns of the opera is an assertion of the might of Egypt, her power and beauty, and contrary to what the sets might have us believe, there is nothing primitive or frivolous about Egyptian art and culture. The direction too, felt clumsy at times, and often a little like a fashion show. Although Aida may not lend itself to highly charged, energetically dramatic scenes, there was a great deal of simply standing and walking by the principal characters, and Davies, in my view, might have done better to exploit the subtleties of what was on offer, the intense passions of the love-triangle, just a little more. Managing space and scale is also famously difficult in this opera, working both with huge crowd scenes as well as those demanding close intimacy, and here too I felt that Davies was not always successful. The triumph scene, although visually clever, with a turquoise elephant and a shower of gold, and wonderfully entertaining with exuberant acrobats and dancers, felt a little small for the huge stage. By contrast, to give credit where it is due, the use of moving pyramidal sets that transported us fluidly from one scene to the next was beautifully done, particularly in the final scene, where the walls quite literally close in on the doomed couple. Davies’ direction and setting of the temple scene in Act one also struck the perfect note of overwhelming awe and reverence, and was for me one of the highlights. Easily holding their own against the costumes and sets however, were the music and the singing, which were just wonderful and completely engrossing, from the opening notes of Radames’ entrance aria, until the lingering notes of Aida’s last dying farewell.
Iain Paterson as Amonasro and Claire Rutter as Aida The orchestra under conductor Gerard Korsten in his ENO debut, gave a careful and sensitive account of both the massive, banked-up choral passages, as well as the more delicate pieces such as Aida’s beautiful heart-rending aria ‘My dear country’, beautifully sung by Claire Rutter. Indeed, Rutter’s performance was exemplary throughout. Singing in the role of Amneris, Jane Dutton’s voice has beautiful warmth to it, and in Act 4, where she implores Radames to help her to save him, she came into her own, delivering a compellingly believable and beautifully sung performance. John Hudson as a strong and solid Radames, the immensely pleasing baritone of Gwynne Howell as Pharaoh, and Matthew Best as a formidable Ramfis were a powerful trio, but Iain Paterson impressed me most with his vocal strength and physical energy in the role of Amonasro. Equally impressive were the chorus; magnificent voices paying full homage to Verdi’s tremendous harmonies.
John Hudson as Radames Whatever your take on Davies’ directorial, and Rhodes’ visual contributions, this production is highly entertaining and moving, and ought not to be missed.
Claire Rutter as Aida
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