Verdi - Aida / Levine, Domingo, Millo, Metropolitan Opera
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Movie Reviews of Verdi - Aida / Levine, Domingo, Millo, Metropolitan Opera
Movie Review: Grand opera at its grandest
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing that impresses the viewer are the stupendous sets. It is as though the designer, Giani Quaranta, has thrown down a gauntlet to the performers - "Match this!". He clearly conveys the impression of a great civilization that seems to be on the wane. The giant friezes (if that is the correct term) are hugely impressive, but they are beginning to crumble. The frescoes in Amneris' room are lovely, but the paint is coming off. I was also impressed by the King's costumes. I checked up and the headresses, including the double crown as well as the regalia - the crook and the flail - are absolutely correct. I only wonder why Pharoah did not have his false beard? Would it have made singing harder?
I confess to a certain fascination with Amneris, and Dolora Zajick gets better and better in this role as the opera goes on. In the end you have the feeling that old Ramfis is going to have a rough ride when she becomes queen.
I have seen too many Aidas where you wonder WHY Radames prefers her to Amneris. Here, thanks to Ms. Millo's exquisite looks (it is a pity she is not black in real life, it suits her) and marvellous singing (particularly the pianissimos) the plot seems half way reasonable.
The only negative, and I say this with sadness because I admire him, is the performance of Sherrill Milnes. He is no longer in good voice and his acting is not upto par. He comes across as far too old for a warrior king and he is very stiff in certain parts.
Domingo is Domingo - looks, voice and acting are all perfect.
I have one quibble with the video and that is the superimposition of Amneris on Aida and Radames in the finale. It would have been better to present the double stage from a distance. Also, Amneris' final "pace" is swallowed up by applause, which is a pity. I would have expected better of the Met's audience.
Movie Review: Fantabuous! Bravo!
Summary: 5 Stars
Lavish production--sets, costumes, voices, orchestra, and dancing.
Placido did not discourage. Aida has a beautiful voice, but I guess beautiful voices along with beautiful faces and carriage befitting a princess are nonexistent in the opera world? (Watching too many Hollywood flicks?) For a romantic Aida's countenance was the wee disappointment. I think that even a different hairdo could have helped.
Otherwise, fabulous production.
Movie Review: Outstanding performance
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm impressed. This is an outstanding performance, at a good tempo, with good sound quality, and great artists.Movie Review: Ancient Egyptian razzmatazz and some great singing
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all the 'Aida' productions I've witnessed, this version is my favorite. If you are searching for your first 'Aida' it should be this Metropolitan Opera production with its balance of great and good singers, and its grandiose Egyptian backdrops of sandstone, bronze, linen and gold. It has one of the better triumphal marches, too. No elephants (except for a few tusks), but scads of soldiers, dancers, Ethiopian prisoners, leopard skins, and gaily caparisoned horses.
Aprile Millo's Aida sings well, especially her celestial pianissimos, but she is a cold princess-slave. She seems to be perpetually annoyed--perhaps because Amneris got the best costumes---but her tomb scene with Placido Domingo is to die for. It is only when she has to crank up the volume that she sounds a bit pinched.
Dolora Zajick's Amneris is why you need to hear this production. She is a luscious, spoiled, intensely feminine, young Pharaoh's daughter. She is also a true Verdian mezzo with a voice as rich and seductive as her appearance. This is one of those 'Aidas' where the Pharaoh's daughter almost steals the show.
Paata Burchuladze sings a Slavic, wa-wa trombone of a Ramfis, lisping, loud, and satisfactorily menacing at the fore of his priestly chorus. I really enjoyed the stentorian booming of the priests, thundering away at the lower levels of 'Ritorna Vincitor,' demanding the deaths of the Ethiopian prisoners, and snarling out their 'tradditores' beneath Amneris's frenzied pleading in the judgement scene.
Placidio Domingo is a soldierly Radam?s and his 'Celeste Aida' is sung with a silken vigor that doesn't require the interpolated, often-bleated high B flat at its climax. His nobility does make it difficult to believe his sudden decision to desert his soldiers and run away with Aida in the Nile scene, but make no mistake, this is a great tenor in his prime. If you don't shed a tear during 'O Terra Addio' maybe you should be listening to something other than opera.
Greek bass, Dimitri Kavrakos is a suitably dignified pharaoh with slightly less wa-wa than his priestly colleague, but with enough volume to be heard in the crowd scenes.
Sherrill Milnes is a ferocious, glowering Amonasro, although his baritone has definitely begun to show signs of dryness. His scene with Aida is dramatic rather than beautifully sung.
There is one fairly serious problem with this production--I've played it on two different machines, so it isn't my equipment: I can barely hear the male chorus at the beginning of the Temple of Vulcan scene. The priestess and the women's chorus come through fine, but no matter how much I crank the volume, the men's unaccompanied chorus is nothing but a distant muttering.
Even so, I think you'll love this 'Aida', right down to the last 'pace' of Amneris, quietly grieving above the tomb.
Movie Review: Electrifying
Summary: 5 Stars
As others have said, the production and performances are top-notch. Aprile Millo is fantastic, along with Domingo, of course. The crowd goes increasingly wild as the performance progresses. Truly electrifying.