Customer Reviews

A Beautiful Production of 'Aïda' from Barcelona - By: J Scott Morrison, 20 Jul 2004
It's been years since I've seen 'Aïda,' but my first production goes back over fifty years & I've seen it too many times to count. My first Aïda was Zinka Milanov; that tells you how long ago it was. Andin the movie theater I fellin love with my first sight of Sophia Lorenin the Italian filmed version madein the 1950s. She lip-synched to the singing of Renata Tebaldi. I came to this DVD not expecting a lot, but I was, frankly, overwhelmed. I suppose part of that is because it had been so long since I'd seen the opera; it IS one of the great dramas of the opera stage, & like 'Bohème' & 'Carmen' (the other two of the ABC triumvirate) it never fails to move an audience (and me).

I've always sniffed at opera-goers who tell about their opera-going experiences by talking about the scenery. C'mon, opera is about the music, right? Well, yes, right. But this production from Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, one of the world's great opera houses, is a spectacular one, & what's more, it's a revival of a mise-en-scène that goes back to 1945. Here's the story: For many years the head scenery designer of the Liceu was Joseph Mestres Cabanes, the last of the so-called 'Catalan school' of set design. What he & his predecessors had perfected was the art of painting scenes on paper, that's right PAPER, using incredible skill at trompe l'oeil & perspective to make the scenery look, from the auditorium, ultra-realistic. Mestres Cabanes went a step further--his richly detailed sets were painstakingly painted, yes, but they also included fantastic, even surrealistic details that repaid close attention by the audience, & his use of color was uniquely gorgeous. His 1945 production of 'Aïda,' his last for the house, was probably the pinnacle of his achievement (along with an almost equally spectacular 'Meistersinger' of the year before). The production played for a number of years, but the paper sets (which onstage were mounted on elaborate wooden frames) had long since been removed from their frames, folded, & put away. Miraculously, when the Liceu burnt to the groundin 1995, they survived. Set designer Jordi Castellis had the idea of repairing the wear-and-tear flawsin the 60 year old sets & remounting Mentres Cabanes's production. This was donein July 2003 to huge acclaim, & rightly so. The sets for the four acts, using as many as 120 different planes & layers of paper, are,in a word, astonishingly beautiful & effective. But, enough about scenery ... what about the musical & dramatic values here?

This is a conservative productionin that there is none of that Eurotrash rewriting of the plot, the setting, the era, or the psychological gist of the piece. The Liceu orchestra & chorus are excellent; I particularly liked the rich voices of the Priestsin their scenes. The ballet is expert, although I did wonder why the so-called 'Sacred Dance of the Priestesses'in Act I, Scene 2 was danced by male dancers, however effective it was. Ah, the singers. Verdi is hard to cast these days; we all long for the days of 'real' Verdi baritones, real spinto sopranos, real ringing-voiced tenors. The Liceu measures up pretty wellin this regard. It had been years since I'd heard Juan Pons sing, but his trombone-voiced Amonasro is one of the best I've ever heard. Robert Scandiuzzi's Ramfis is a suitably sonorous black basso. The Priestess (my first, would believe, was Lucine Amara when she was VERY young & long before she graduated to leading roles) is nicely done by Ana Nebot. Radamès is sung by a tenor only vaguely known to me, Fabio Armiliato, a fairly young man who is now singingin all the biggest houses. His tenor is just one notch below that of the best, but he manages it well, his acting is excellent & his appearance (he's tall & trim, & has devilish good looks) helps the effect. This is a video of a live performance & he, like many tenors, isn't at his peak for his big aria at the very beginning, 'Celeste Aïda,' but he warms up nicely & by the time of the Nile scene & the Dungeon scene the voice is ringing out heroically; he is also capable of nuanced soft singing. Daniela Dessì is a known quantity. She has been a leading Verdi soprano for years, & she shines here. Again, like Armiliato, she warms up after Act I & by Act II & beyond the singing is thrilling. Both the duet with Amonasroin the Nile scene & the aria & duetin Act IV are scrumptious, delicately shaded & featuring some pianissimi that gave me goose-bumps.

But the big surprise to me, since I'd never heard of her, is the Amneris of Elisabetta Fiorillo. Wow! In Act I there is evidence of a huge voice, but also some control problems. But by Act II & beyond she is simply magnificent. This is a dramatic voice with heft, flexibility, control. By Act IV she is simply stunning, & the audience certainly agrees with me on that. After her scenain Act IV, Scene 1, the audience went nuts.

In summary, then, this is the record of a wonderful performance enhanced by the restoration of 60-year-old sets that are themselves real works of art. This may not be Nilsson, Tebaldi, Price, Domingo, Bergonzi, whoever, but it is still thrilling theater.

There are subtitlesin English, French, German & Catalan. There are an illustrated synopsis on DVD 1 (of 2) & a short documentary on Mestres Cabanes's sets & their restoration. There is no libretto, but the subtitles (in English, at least) are accurate & well-synchronized.

Recommended.

Scott Morrison