206.205.176.3
Attended Aida at the Metropolitan Opera Saturday. Since the Met's Aida will appear in theaters in a few months, I thought I'd give you a heads up.For those unfamiliar with the opera, it is a a love triangle set in ancient Egypt during a war with Ethiopia. This would be prime playground for Eurotrash directors, and I suspect that it has been "updated" in that way many times already.
But this was far from Eurotrash. The staging was splendid -- spectacular sets, beautiful costumes, effective cast direction, and two well choreographed dance segments. It created an "idealized" Egyptian setting that was perfectly suited to Verdi's beautiful score.
The orchestra, conducted by Daniele Gatti, was in good form. Pacing was good and they managed the interruptions caused by the applauding audience quite well.
My one reservation had to do with the three main characters. They sang their parts quite well and I have no complaints in that regard. However, I have never seen a single depiction from ancient Egyptian art or historical reference to obese royalty, and figure it would be highly unlikely that the commander of the Egyptian armies would have been sporting so much blubber.
This is one of the things that has reduced my enjoyment of opera since my first exposure to it. It is just too far fetched to see Cinderella or Juliett or other characters, who are supposed to be young and beautiful, and their young heroes who are fighters or lovers, portrayed by 300 lb actors.
Opera is theater, and in this case, the Met's Aida was a great success. The sets and direction and quality of the singing assure that it is well worth seeing when it is broadcast to a theater near you. I would go see it again for the staging alone, which was magnificent (there were live horses, but no elephants). But you will have to ignore the largeness of the three primary soloists.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Edits: 10/18/09Follow Ups:
Post a Followup:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2009, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ Go Green ]
[ Take5 ]