Aida is one of my all-time favourites, and I would see any production of it, likewise with a Verdi opera like Don Carlo and La Traviata. Beforehand, my least favourite Aida production was the 1992 production(excluding the 1953 film with Sophia Loren with Tebaldi and Stignani's singing), it did look great in the costumes and settings and the support cast(Zajick, Ghiuselev and Pons) was great, but the leads were second-rate, the choreography was dull and the orchestra was inconsistent.
However, after seeing this 2010 production, things have changed. Alongside the 2005 Don Carlos, this is not just my least favourite Aida but one of my least favourite productions of any of Verdi's operas. It does get plus points for the superb music, very good orchestral playing and conducting, though they are undermined by the tinny sound, and Tatiana Serjan's wonderful Aida.
Other than that, this production of Aida falls flat. The camera work a vast majority of the time is incoherent, with not enough close up shots and too much of me wondering if the principals were actually on the scene. The sets may be big, but they really take you out of the setting. For an opera that is meant to be set in Egypt, I wasn't sure what a giant Statue of Liberty head was doing there. The lake itself was quite stunning, but the constant ducking into it got distracting after a while.
The costumes are unexceptional on the most part, prisoners in black hoods, really(?), and while I don't mind inventive ideas and minimalist stagings I don't like it when it is too eccentric and leave a bad taste in your mouth, and that is what they did here. If there was one touch that I did like, though I'd personally wouldn't do it like that, it is the boat of the dead touch in the final scene.
I disliked everything else though, especially the most inept choreography, excepting the golden elephant, of the triumphal march that I have ever seen. Other touches I didn't like was the start of act 2 and the idea of Amneris leading two men on leashes crawling along on the ground.
Apart from Serjan, the rest of the performances disappoint. Rubens Pelizzari is very uninvolved and strained as Rhadames, and there is little or no chemistry between him and Serjan with exception of the final scene. Iain Paterson's voice is nowhere near powerful enough for Amanasro, and sadly his legato singing is choppy. Tigran Martirossian has a decent voice but as Ramfis he is static dramatically.
Iano Tamar fares much better, she is a very good actress and performs Amneris with relish. However for me some of her chest notes seemed forced rather than creamy, the latter is what they should be like. Overall, very disappointing, not a complete disaster but the staging and inconsistent performances bring it down. For the best production of Aida, look no further than the 1989 Met production. 4/10 Bethany Cox
However, after seeing this 2010 production, things have changed. Alongside the 2005 Don Carlos, this is not just my least favourite Aida but one of my least favourite productions of any of Verdi's operas. It does get plus points for the superb music, very good orchestral playing and conducting, though they are undermined by the tinny sound, and Tatiana Serjan's wonderful Aida.
Other than that, this production of Aida falls flat. The camera work a vast majority of the time is incoherent, with not enough close up shots and too much of me wondering if the principals were actually on the scene. The sets may be big, but they really take you out of the setting. For an opera that is meant to be set in Egypt, I wasn't sure what a giant Statue of Liberty head was doing there. The lake itself was quite stunning, but the constant ducking into it got distracting after a while.
The costumes are unexceptional on the most part, prisoners in black hoods, really(?), and while I don't mind inventive ideas and minimalist stagings I don't like it when it is too eccentric and leave a bad taste in your mouth, and that is what they did here. If there was one touch that I did like, though I'd personally wouldn't do it like that, it is the boat of the dead touch in the final scene.
I disliked everything else though, especially the most inept choreography, excepting the golden elephant, of the triumphal march that I have ever seen. Other touches I didn't like was the start of act 2 and the idea of Amneris leading two men on leashes crawling along on the ground.
Apart from Serjan, the rest of the performances disappoint. Rubens Pelizzari is very uninvolved and strained as Rhadames, and there is little or no chemistry between him and Serjan with exception of the final scene. Iain Paterson's voice is nowhere near powerful enough for Amanasro, and sadly his legato singing is choppy. Tigran Martirossian has a decent voice but as Ramfis he is static dramatically.
Iano Tamar fares much better, she is a very good actress and performs Amneris with relish. However for me some of her chest notes seemed forced rather than creamy, the latter is what they should be like. Overall, very disappointing, not a complete disaster but the staging and inconsistent performances bring it down. For the best production of Aida, look no further than the 1989 Met production. 4/10 Bethany Cox