Verdi - Aida / Maazel, Chiara, Pavarotti, La Scala

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La Scala went all out for its 1986 production of this grandest of grand operas, with a strong cast and, most important for a video recording, a larger-than-life staging. The Triumph Scene in Act II is by no means Aida's only attraction, but it is the part that makes the strongest and most lasting impression and it is the visual and musical climax of this production. Stage director Luca Ronconi brings on a procession to dwarf all processions: looted treasures, heroic statuary, miserable captives struggling under the lash of whip-bearing slave drivers. On par with these visuals is Lorin Maazel's first-class performance of the popular Grand March with the outstanding La Scala chorus and orchestra. In Act III, the contrasting tranquility of the Nile Scene also gets a visual treatment to match the music's qualities.

When it is not an epic spectacle, Aida is a tragic story of love, jealousy, and horrible revenge. The shifting focus between vast spectacle and intimate moments--sometimes awkward in a live performance onstage--presents special opportunities and challenges for a video recording. In this Aida, the camera work shows an acute awareness of those opportunities and challenges.

The soloists have a variety of strengths that outweigh a few small weaknesses. Luciano Pavarotti sings one of his signature roles in superb voice, but his weight problems are visually evident and detract from his impact as the dashing hero Radames. Maria Chiara has moments of vocal imperfection but gives a dramatically compelling performance. Ghena Dimitrova sings powerfully and the supporting cast is excellent throughout. --Joe McLellan

Description

This magnificent production of Verdi's much-loved masterpiece was a triumphant success when it opened at La Scala in December 1985, and Luciano Pavarotti's long-awaited performance as Radames--his first in Italy--was greeted with rapturous applause. In this live recording of that same production, Pavarotti heads an exceptional cast with Ghena Dimitrova, Maria Chiara, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Paata Burchuladze, and Juan Pons all in peak form. Lorin Maazel's reading of the score shows a rare understanding of Verdi's music. Verdi wrote Aida in response to a request by the Khedive of Egypt for an opera with authentic Egyptian flavor to open the Cairo Opera House in 1871. The opera's appeal was immediate and lasting, with this production capturing perfectly the imposing grandeur of the land of the pharaohs and the ochre hues of the desert. It is an ideal setting for the magnificent spectacle of the opera, which combines so consummately with the drama of human emotion, played out in Radames's love for the slave girl Aida and the jealousy of Amneris, daughter of the Egyptian king. In Italian with English subtitles. 160 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

Forgettable, but has its strong points.......2005-05-13

CRITICISM:

1. If you know the opera very well and can handle the Italian, tough. There's no way to get Italian subtitles (on either the PAL or the NTSC version).

2. The "grand march" (musically intended to be the most magical moment of this opera) was inanely choreographed. According to the libretto, they're supposed to be bringing in "the spoils of war," as they dance to the music. Instead we have a bunch of guys dragging giant statues around the stage with ropes. The famous "Dance of the Moorish Slaves" was also ineptly done, but that has been adequately discussed by other reviewers.

3. Pavarotti does indeed have weight problems. He's so fat in this performance, it's distracting.

4. The quality of the audio recording, if you do yourself right with some quality headphones and listen to it carefully, is frequently poor. The attentive listener can hear pops, clunking, clanking, coughing, page turning, etc. (Of course, to be fair, this WAS recorded live.) This is something you'll want to know if you're an aural purist.

PRAISE:

1. Singingwise, the performers are at their peak.

2. With the exception of the lack of Italian, the subtitles were well brought off: accurate and literate.

3. Considering the limitations of their situation, the cameramen did an excellent job. But amazing work on their part doesn't necessarily mean it's quality viewing.

not perfect, but not trash, either.......2005-05-11

First off, I must address the reviewer who criticized the nude women in Amneris' bath scene. This production was staged in Italy, where the native population does not giggle like a schoolgirl at the sight of a woman's bare breast. The nude women, all chosen according to the model of classic female beauty, added an element of sensousness, not lewdness. If they were so lewd, why would they cover up when the group of small boys burst onto the stage?

As other reviewers have stated, this production has its ups and downs. This is the first time I have seen a taped Pavarotti stage performance, and boy, he makes Ramon Vargas look like the greatest actor alive. Once, Martina Arroyo (herself a spectacular Aida) was once asked, in an interview, if it was detrimental to have a very heavy opera singer onstage. Her response was quite intelligent; she said it depended on how the singer moved. Without mentioning names, she stated that when you see some singers, all you think is "all that weight." Well, she could well have been thinking of Pavarotti. Half the time, when the camera zooms in, we see him panting like a tired dog. It doesn't help that he licks his lips like one, a very course habit for the operatic stage.

In addition to his weight issues, Pavarotti seems to feel incredibly lost if he is onstage for more than a few seconds without singing. Just witness him during the triumphal march. As for his singing, it is good, but not heroic, and Radames calls for both.

Maria Chiara is not a first-rate Aida, but I happen to like her interpretation. For the person who likened her to a figure slithering in the shadows, think about this: You are taken captive, the daughter of a King. You wonder from day to day if it will be your last. Furthermore, you soon discover that you are at the mercy of the whims of a jealous, scorned captor. To add insult to injury, your father denounces you after he asks you to do the impossible. Well, in this light, would it have been proper for any Aida to prance regally across the stage?

As Amneris, Ghena Dimitrova looks like Cher on the Nile. Really, her makeup looks like it was applied by a drag queen, thought the effect is fabulous. Dimitrova has some patchy moments, but after a rather wooden presence in Act I, she really catches fire in Act II. The basic tone and projection is commendable for a non-Italian singer. When she experiences a metanoia in the judgment scene, we really believe it.

I also loved Juan Pons as Amonastro. We have a lot of good baritones today, but his Amonastro is polished, and again a believable character.

As for the costumes, they leave something to be desired. For such a monumental staging, they could have given us the look and feel of classic Egypt, without overdoing it. Instead, what we get is a mostly drab palatte.

Visually interesting, poor acting.......2004-09-26

I found this a very interesting presentation of a very popular and famous opera. Of course, we all know that Aida is to take place in Egypt, however, I wasn't sure if Egypt was the country in which the story was taking place, or exactly which time period it was taking place in. Not one bit of the costuming (or the sets) appeared Egyptian in the slightest degree, and strange as it sounds, the entire opera seemed to be more something from the "Arabian Nights" than the days of the Pharoah's. Putting that aside, visually, the opera was stunning and very beautiful. Most of the costumes did the singers proud, making them really appear glamorous. The only exception was, of course, Pavarotti, and his costume looked like it was made in "Desert Sands Tent Shop." The oriental shoulder pads did little to even out his very LARGE frame. He could have actually worn Jessye Norman's costume for Sieglinde in Walkure (done by the MET) and it would have looked almost the same, excepting it was in brown and this in blue. The basic figure was almost the same as Norman at that time.

The sound wasn't bad either, and we were not "treated" to the strange pianissimo at the end of Celeste Aida we are greeted with in the recording released on Decca of this same performance. I found the sound quite clear, and only very slightly did it seem unbalanced, and only from time to time. It was never a distraction.

The distraction was firstly the super bad acting of most of the singers, and I mean most of them. Pavarotti was his wooden self with no sense of character, or anything, for that matter. He sang well, but without anything very dramatic being conveyed. Chiara sounded actually way better in the DVD live performance recording than she did in the studio one of this same performance. There she was more than lifeless and her penetrating
high notes really were awful. Here, however, she sang quite fine, and even though those same high notes were a bit too brilliant and at times almost shrill, they were fine. The problem with her performance is she is about the most boring person I have ever seen on stage. Pavarotti can't act, but he is seldom boring (even just being himself gives an audience a lot). Her actions consisted of rising one arm, then two; in moments of high drama she would move which ever arm more quickly, but the basic movements never changed. She had what Wagner called "eternal swimming motions" which he thought were horrible. I happen to agree. She always made her stage entrances as if she were frightened we might know she were there. She reminded me of a character from Rikki Tikki Tavi who would slink around the walls of the room and never actually dare to enter the center of it. One bit of stage business that really was affective was having her enter the famous Nile Scene by boat. Here, and only here, was her "fear of being seen" affective. Other than that, it was a constant annoyance.

The other characters were completely forgettable, as they are in most every performance. Who ever remembers who plays the King, or the high priest? Few of us. However, we do appreciate when they are affective in the scenes they are in. In this case, they were affective, very affective, but like all minor roles, they were overshadowed by the leads.

And in this case, everyone was overshadowed by Ghena Dimitrova. Her Amneris was exciting and developed carefully as a character. Too often she is presented as if she is some psychic witch constantly suspicious and dying to do evil. If one reads the libretto, one really gets the feeling that she and Radames were a thing before the pretty Aida entered the picture. In the trio just after the opera starts, we are often treated to a very angry Amneris, when in reality she is only suspicious that perhaps Radames doesn't love her as he once did. We saw her doubts and fears, and her suspicions, but we were not forced to see a raving witch so early in the opera (and if the truth be told, at no time should she be presented that way). She is a princess, she is powerful, she is in love, and she is rejected. She feels jealously, even rage, but she is filled with sorrow, and anger with herself for having caught Radames betraying his country and her. Dimitrova captures all the emotions of the part, and is not the traditional raving, jealous witch we are accustomed to seeing. Her great scene is the trial scene, and we are not disappointed. Finally we have an Amneris who can manage the upper register with strength and power, which is needed. I guess I am torn between a mezzo singing the role, and a really powerful dramatic soprano with a good lower range. I found Dimitrova far more exciting than Cossotto (who is considered a legend in the part). Cossotto had the voice, but her Amneris is nothing but a jealous witch from beginning to end. There is no development and she is not a great actress either. One thing that was refreshing was seeing the person of Amneris actually listening during the trial. So often she is just counting time waiting for her next big outburst.

I enjoyed the work, but I rated it only a three because it was lacking in so many ways. Visual affects, lovely costumes (even if they suggest nothing of the era or country the story is taking place in), and good singing don't create the illusion of drama that we expect to see. So many singers now days are first rate actors, and we are getting more and more used to them. Even an opera like Aida requires them, for the show of the triumphal scene is just that, one scene. When we don't see real people and feel real emotions (both because of their voices and their actions) we miss half the story and all the character development that must be there.

Gran Aida........2003-10-26

A nivel general esta es una gran version de Aida, comenzando por la puesta en escena de LUCA RONCONI, bella y coherente visualmente en todo momento, sin los alardes tipicos de la obra, pero con un inteligente movimiento de figurantes.
Luego, en el apartado vocal tenemos al sobresaliente Radames de LUCIANO PAVAROTTI, en uno de sus dias de gloria, a la poderosa Amneris de GHENA DIMITROVA (sin los medios de la Zajick, pero muy notable tambien) y a esos lujos para los papeles secundarios que se llaman PAATA BURDZULADZE (Ramfis), JUAN PONS (Amonasro) y NICOLAI GHIAUROV (Rey de Egipto), todos de lujo en sus respectivas partes.
La Aida de MARIA CHIARA cumple bien, aunque no llega a arrebatar vocalmente, impone una presencia escenica bastante interesante. Aunque prefiero a Aprille Millo...
LORIN MAZZEL lleva comodamente la direccion de los cuerpos estables de la Scalla de Milan, todos ellos muy ductiles, rematando asi una version de Aida bastante interesante.

Out-Heroding Aida.......2003-10-22

The singing was wonderful, but the staging ranged from distracting to hilarious.

You like slaves? This production has them in abundance, cluttering up the action, groaning and moaning as they pull and push stones and monuments like a pack of crack-smoking ants. They were especially annoying in the triumphal scene, where the chorus could barely squeeze on stage, cowering in the background while the over-acting wretches took center stage. (Hey slaves! Triumphal celebration going on! Take five!)

It was also kind of weird in Act I, Scene II, where the rocks just popped up out of the ground, noisly banged about, and occasionally formed,one assumes, significant shapes.

Act II, Scene I was bizarre. First, there were topless women "bathing." Let me tell ya, topless women are always a distraction, except in a topless bar, and even there they distract. What was the point of them here? Second, while most ballets in this scene feature the usual gaggle of Egyptian girls "walking like an Egyptian," they changed it up a bit by having young boys--very young boys!--hopping about in thongs, while being whipped by some old dudes. (Speaking of pointless, don't miss the entrance of Radames in the Act II, Scene II, with the scantily clad young hunk standing over him, ready for action.)

Finally, Herr Pavarotti was big enough; hanging curtains on him only added to the effect. (One could almost hear the slaves lamenting, "We can pull the sphinx across the stage, but not that tenor!")

It is also noted that the once discriminating La Scala audience fell for this MTV approach like wrestling fans marking out to a Hulk Hogan pose down.

All in all, an absurd and sterile desecration of Verdi's opera.

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