Aida
Aida, Seattle Opera, August 2, 2008
Aida - Lisa Daltirus
Amners - Stephanie Blythe
Radames - Antonello Palombi
Amonasro - Charles Taylor (debut)
Ramfis - Luis-Ottavio Faria
King - Joseph Rawley
Messenger - Karl Marx Reyes
Priestess - Priti Gandhi
Conductor - Riccardo Frizza (debut)
Director - Robin Guarino
Sets - Michael Yeargan (from San Diego Opera)
Costumes - Peter J. Hall (from Dallas Opera)
Choreography - Donald Byrd
It's been 16 years since Verdi's Aida was seen in Seattle, but instead of a revival of the modernized 1992 production, General Director Speight Jenkins opted for a production that was thoroughly traditional. Most of the sets consisted of an open area with what appeared to be a floor made of reed mats, with large portals on both sides of the stage, with statues or columns flown in as necessary. The costumes made the singers resemble images from an Egyptian museum: Amneris was made up to resemble the famous bust of Nefertiti, while the king looked like a walking ornamental coffin--a bit over-the-top in my opinion.
For once, the Ethiopians were not got up in blackface makeup--while the Aida, Lisa Daltirus, is African-American, the Amonasro, Charles Taylor was white, as were the chorus members portraying the Ethiopian captives. This shouldn't be a sticking point (would Miss Daltirus be asked to put on whiteface for Nedda, Rosalinde, or Tosca?) it was a surprise, and it did take a few minutes for the good ol' willing suspension of disbelief to kick in).
There was quite a bit of dance in this production--the Act I scene in the temple featured a long solo dance, dancers entertained Amneris in the beginning of Act II, and the triumphal procession was mostly replaced with a long narrative example purpoting to retell the tale of the battle that won Radames his triumph. The dances, choreographed by Donald Byrd, who was reponsible for the martial dances in Giulio Cesare two seasons ago, were very aerobic and muscular--quite macho.
Apart from that, it was a traditional staging--lots of "walk downstage and sing" moments.
As is so often the case, Stephanie Blythe was the star of the evening. This is the fourth genre I've heard her sing: she has previously shown mastery of French opera comique (Carmen), Wagnerian Musikdrama (Fricka and the second Norn in the Ring), and bel canto (Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri). I was worried that she might lack the full-blooded sound for late Verdi dramatic singing, but I was stupid to have such concerns: in her big confrontation scene with the priests she sounded great and acted ferociously.
Other than Miss Blythe, most of the principals were new to me. Miss Daltirus as Aida is a beautiful woman with a striking figure. She sang very well with a rich, plummy soprano blessed with a warm vibrato. Her highlights were "Ritorna vincitor" and her contributions to the Act II ensemble. Her "O patria mia" was lovely, and if her exposed high notes did not float perfectly, they were good enough.
Antonello Palombi, famous for his in-street-clothes substitution for Roberto Alagna at La Scala a couple years back, provided a fine spinto tenor as Radames. There was not even the hint of effort in his high notes in "Celeste Aida" (although his pianissimo at the end was more crooned than sang). He portrayed well Radames' anguish at his Act III dilemma.
It's tough to get a handle on Charles Taylor's performance as Amonasro--as dramatically important as the character is, the fact of the matter is that he has relatively little stage and singing time compared to the other characters. Mr. Taylor strikes me as more of a "kunst" baritone than a "stimm" baritone: his performance was all about acting and less about pure tonal beauty--a performer in the vein of Seattle favorite Greer Grimsley.
The basses, Luis-Ottavio Faria as Ramfis, and Joseph Rawley as the King, were a bit disappointing to me--neither of them had a really big, booming, stentorian sound, though I concede that my seat location (2nd balcony) may have more to do with it then the singers themselves. Dramatically they both easily matched their roles demands: looking imperious.
The orchestra, under debut conductor Riccardo Frizza, sounded fine--the orchestra did sound wonderful for my favorite instrumental section of the opera, the prelude to Act III. My untrained ears did hear a couple of musical gaffes that might have been miscues or misread cues.
In sum, while a bit old-fashioned looking, a successful performance overall. One wonders if the soprano-mezzo-tenor trio might be reunited in the future for, say, Don Carlo (unperformed in Seattle since 1993), with perhaps Mariusz Kwiecien as Posa and John Relyea as Filippo.
Aida - Lisa Daltirus
Amners - Stephanie Blythe
Radames - Antonello Palombi
Amonasro - Charles Taylor (debut)
Ramfis - Luis-Ottavio Faria
King - Joseph Rawley
Messenger - Karl Marx Reyes
Priestess - Priti Gandhi
Conductor - Riccardo Frizza (debut)
Director - Robin Guarino
Sets - Michael Yeargan (from San Diego Opera)
Costumes - Peter J. Hall (from Dallas Opera)
Choreography - Donald Byrd
It's been 16 years since Verdi's Aida was seen in Seattle, but instead of a revival of the modernized 1992 production, General Director Speight Jenkins opted for a production that was thoroughly traditional. Most of the sets consisted of an open area with what appeared to be a floor made of reed mats, with large portals on both sides of the stage, with statues or columns flown in as necessary. The costumes made the singers resemble images from an Egyptian museum: Amneris was made up to resemble the famous bust of Nefertiti, while the king looked like a walking ornamental coffin--a bit over-the-top in my opinion.
For once, the Ethiopians were not got up in blackface makeup--while the Aida, Lisa Daltirus, is African-American, the Amonasro, Charles Taylor was white, as were the chorus members portraying the Ethiopian captives. This shouldn't be a sticking point (would Miss Daltirus be asked to put on whiteface for Nedda, Rosalinde, or Tosca?) it was a surprise, and it did take a few minutes for the good ol' willing suspension of disbelief to kick in).
There was quite a bit of dance in this production--the Act I scene in the temple featured a long solo dance, dancers entertained Amneris in the beginning of Act II, and the triumphal procession was mostly replaced with a long narrative example purpoting to retell the tale of the battle that won Radames his triumph. The dances, choreographed by Donald Byrd, who was reponsible for the martial dances in Giulio Cesare two seasons ago, were very aerobic and muscular--quite macho.
Apart from that, it was a traditional staging--lots of "walk downstage and sing" moments.
As is so often the case, Stephanie Blythe was the star of the evening. This is the fourth genre I've heard her sing: she has previously shown mastery of French opera comique (Carmen), Wagnerian Musikdrama (Fricka and the second Norn in the Ring), and bel canto (Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri). I was worried that she might lack the full-blooded sound for late Verdi dramatic singing, but I was stupid to have such concerns: in her big confrontation scene with the priests she sounded great and acted ferociously.
Other than Miss Blythe, most of the principals were new to me. Miss Daltirus as Aida is a beautiful woman with a striking figure. She sang very well with a rich, plummy soprano blessed with a warm vibrato. Her highlights were "Ritorna vincitor" and her contributions to the Act II ensemble. Her "O patria mia" was lovely, and if her exposed high notes did not float perfectly, they were good enough.
Antonello Palombi, famous for his in-street-clothes substitution for Roberto Alagna at La Scala a couple years back, provided a fine spinto tenor as Radames. There was not even the hint of effort in his high notes in "Celeste Aida" (although his pianissimo at the end was more crooned than sang). He portrayed well Radames' anguish at his Act III dilemma.
It's tough to get a handle on Charles Taylor's performance as Amonasro--as dramatically important as the character is, the fact of the matter is that he has relatively little stage and singing time compared to the other characters. Mr. Taylor strikes me as more of a "kunst" baritone than a "stimm" baritone: his performance was all about acting and less about pure tonal beauty--a performer in the vein of Seattle favorite Greer Grimsley.
The basses, Luis-Ottavio Faria as Ramfis, and Joseph Rawley as the King, were a bit disappointing to me--neither of them had a really big, booming, stentorian sound, though I concede that my seat location (2nd balcony) may have more to do with it then the singers themselves. Dramatically they both easily matched their roles demands: looking imperious.
The orchestra, under debut conductor Riccardo Frizza, sounded fine--the orchestra did sound wonderful for my favorite instrumental section of the opera, the prelude to Act III. My untrained ears did hear a couple of musical gaffes that might have been miscues or misread cues.
In sum, while a bit old-fashioned looking, a successful performance overall. One wonders if the soprano-mezzo-tenor trio might be reunited in the future for, say, Don Carlo (unperformed in Seattle since 1993), with perhaps Mariusz Kwiecien as Posa and John Relyea as Filippo.