Celeste Indra! Mariana Divina!: Aida's Opening Night at the San Diego Opera (12 April 2008)Apr 13 '08 (Updated May 04 '08) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line There is nothing grander than going to see a Verdi grand opera. Catch Indra Thomas and Mariana Pentcheva at the opera this month! Celeste Indra! Mariana Divina! : Verdi's Aida at the San Diego Opera (12 April 2008) I am spoiled. Giuseppe Verdi's Aida is such a 'must see live at least once in a life-time' kind of opera that when the San Diego Opera gave me another free orchestra level ticket to attend the opening night of the show at the San Diego Civic Theater on Saturday night, it would have taken a lot more than a persistent bout of headache to keep me from accepting. This 1871 opera was commissioned for the opening of the Suez Canal ... so the setting is, of course, in Egypt... during the 'time of Pharaohs'. The libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, interestingly enough, is based on the historical fiction scenario by the archeologist/Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, and so has a more realistic plot than one would find in most other opera Verdi set music to. The story is a passionate blend of love, lust, and politics. The Egyptians are at war with the Ethiopian, whose Princess Aida had been captured and enslaved in the service of the Egyptian Princess Amneris. The two ladies' relationship is strained (even though Amneris' princess status is unknown to her captors) by both women's love the handsome Egyptian Captain Radames (who politically incorrectly loves only Aida back). The opera opens with the Egyptians readying for a battle with the Ethiopians and selecting Radames as their leader. Things get hairier for Aida when her dad, King Amonasro, is captured and nearly has his anonymity blown by his own daughter, who is so startled by his sight that she calls out to him. All seems saved for the Ethiopian pairs when Radames requests from the Pharaoh the freedom of his prisoners as his reward for leading the Egyptians to victory. The overly ambitious Amonasro ruins it, however, by pushing his daughter into persuading Radames to reveal the Egyptians' battle plan to her when they meet by the Nile that night. Lingering around too long, Radames is arrested and sentenced to be buried alive for treason despite of Amneris' desperate plea in his favor. Unwilling to live without Radames, Aida sneaks into the tomb to join her lover in death as the distraught Amneris listens hopelessly to their final duet from the temple above. Musically Aida is a French-style grand opera sung in Italian featuring an exotic story, (mercifully short and well integrated to the rest of the music) ballets, a large cast, chorus, and a whole lot of pomps. The music is rich in melodies and nostalgia-inducing coloring and orchestral harmonies. These are all so exquisitely wedded to the sung words that the lyrical moments touch you intimately and the grand choral scenes convince you of the Egyptians' superpower status in the Age of Antiquity. One doesn't need to explode an H-bomb on the stage when one has Verdi's music to play with! CAST: Aida ::: Indra Thomas (soprano) Amneris ::: Mariana Pentcheva (mezzo-soprano) Radames ::: Carlo Ventre (tenor) Amonasro ::: Mark Rucker (baritone) Ramfis ::: Reinhard Hagen (bass) Pharaoh ::: José Galissa (bass) A Priestess ::: Priti Ghandi (mezzo-soprano) A Messenger ::: Kenneth Morris (tenor) Valéry Ryvkin/ San Diego Symphony Orchestra Directed by Garnett Bruce See photos from this production at: www.sdopera.com/pressphotos/aida.html This traditional production at the San Diego Opera on Michael Yeargan's period set first premiered here in 1996. It is quite understatedly beautiful and functional, allowing the large chorus and cast members to occupy the stage without really cluttering it. Peter J. Hall's period costumes go well with the traditional set while allowing for easy distinction between different principal characters. Saturday night was quite warm (up in the 70's Fahrenheit). The opera auditorium isn't air-conditioned, and it must have been quite hot for the Ramfis and the Pharaoh in their thick robes and heavy head-gear. Lighting by Chris Rynne was mostly very well done, though perhaps Amneris could use a bit more illumination at the very end of the opera, since she was nearly invisible (after all, she solos the last 2 bars of the music and is not one of the entombed). The stage direction by Garnett Bruce was, though mostly rather static, quite effective. It's hard to move the cast members around when there is so many extras (plus the chorus) on the stage for most of the show, but he moved the scenes along well. I like the way he shows Aida and Radames having a little tryst during the orchestral prelude. They each entered the stage as their Leitmotif was being played, so even those who aren’t familiar with this opera would know to associate the musical themes to the two characters from the get go. The three ballets in the first half of the opera were also very well performed, with the dancers coping remarkably well with the raked stage (sloping pronouncedly from back to front). In the title role of Aida is the American soprano, Indra Thomas... After experiencing her live, I don't have any doubt why Aida is considered her signature role. Ms. Thomas is a sizable woman with a sizable stage presence to match, and the voice is quite uniquely hers... It's a rich voice that sounds rather strangely insulated... Muffled, if you will, similar to a French horn (always sounding like she's somewhere further away from where you see her). Below the stave it is quite well focused (and when she sang softly in that middle range, she was hypnotic), but above the stave it is less focused and the texture is more similar to a flute rather than a horn... though it so well projected that even the loudest passages of the orchestra and chorus couldn't drown her out (and not for lack of trying! They got so loud at various points that I wondered if my ear-drums were going to make it out of the auditorium intact). Anyhow, aside from being an intelligent singer who knows when to finesse the music and when to blast the heck out of it, Ms. Thomas is also a very good actress. And though her size may prevent her from being very active, she is one of those actresses who don't have to move much to get the points across. Her Nile Scene was riveting and the voice got better and better as the opera progressed. By the end of the final duet she sounded like she could hang around and sing for another three hours! As Radames, the opera's heroic leading man, is the Uruguayan tenor Carlo Ventre. He is built like a tank and sounded just as solid from the top of his voice to the bottom. I think he was a bit anxious at the beginning and was a touch ahead of the orchestra for much of his opening aria, 'Celeste Aida.' It is a notoriously tough music to sing so early in the performance (before the voice has had a real chance of warming up), but he did quite well with it, drawing a few 'Bravo!' from the crowd up the balconies after his held high B-flat. I'd prefer a little less tenor antic of going up the stage to sing forte high notes through out the opera (after all, we aren't at La Scala), but when he wasn't doing that he was believable as the Egyptian macho man who is also head over heal in love with Aida... Which makes it understandable that the spectacular Amneris of the Bulgarian mezzo-soprano, Mariana Pentcheva, finds the tenderness between Aida and Radames extremely annoying. I must confess that I tend to find voices from Bulgaria positively irresistible... There is something strangely ingrainedly melancholy in their sound. Mariana Pentcheva is no exception, and it was great to see that in live theater, her vibrato is not as pronounced as that captured in recordings (there is a bit of a tremolo right around the upper passagio, but it is not too distracting and is even used well for dramatic effects). The top is not easy, but can be quite thrilling. This is a world class voice that at times reminds of Olga Borodina (though not quite as big) and deployed with wonderful dramatic conviction. I think she was, at times, too loud when the orchestra and/or chorus wasn't blaring. At any rate, it is a well focused voice that is enhanced by her acting. This is a suitably young (and spoiled) Princess Amneris who progresses convincingly from youthful arrogance to self-deploring wounded animal in the course of opera. The rest of the cast also did well on opening night. Baritone Mark Rucker, who saved a performance of Cav/Pag last month when he stepped in on very short notice for Bruno Caproni as Alfio/Tonio, was a good Amonasro with solid voice and good chemistry with Aida. The versatile German bass Reinhard Hagen (who also sang in Tannhäuser and Maria Stuarda here earlier in the season) was quietly domineering as Ramfis. Kenneth Morris made his short time on the stage count as the Messenger, and so did José Gallisa's Pharaoh and Priti Gandhi's Priestess. Maestro Valéry Ryvkin and the San Diego Symphony orchestra successfully filled the Civic Theater with enough exotic musical colors to make me forget I was in San Diego, California for a while. Aside from a few places during the Triumphal Scene; the singers, the chorus, and the orchestra were kept together remarkably well (this being the first performance of the run, after all). The banda A-flat trumpets had a few minor fluffs, but the B trumpets were good... though at times playing too loudly. As a matter of fact the orchestra proper and the chorus were also so loud at some points that I was amazed that I could still hear any of the principals singing in the midst of them. Loud notes aren't necessarily the same as intense notes, however. I think they could have knocked the volume down a notch during the big choral/principal numbers without giving away any dramatic intensity at all. The reliable San Diego Opera Chorus' piano singing was a highlight of the show. All in all, it was a great opening performance of Aida I witnessed at the Civic Theater last night. I don't think the performance was sold out, but it looked to be close to it (there were only a handful of empty seats in the orchestra level and dress circle). If you are a lover of classical music and are in San Diego area this month, you really should try to get a ticket to later shows of this run. Indra Thomas and Mariana Pentcheva sounded like they'll be on the A-list of Verdi opera for the years to come (and so are probably rather expensive to hire).... You've better catch them while you have the chance! The uncut original version of the opera is used in this run at the Civic Theater. I confess that, being a bit worn out from the long week I've had, I was tempted to dose off a few times during the ballets. The music is beautiful, to be sure... but I wouldn't have minded missing about 20 minutes of it when no one is singing. The 4-act opera (roughly 3 hrs long) is presented with just one long intermission between Acts 2 and 3 (I was out of the theater by 22:15hr). The curtain was lifted for much of the break as a treat for those (me included) who find 'behind the scene' process of set-changing fascinating. It was quite cool and gave a good demonstration of the reason why the ticket price to the opera is so high compared to other art-form. It is labor-intensive! Considering the labor and equipments involved, the ticket price really is a lot more reasonable than one might think! Next performances of Aida at the San Diego Civic Theater: April 15, 18 (8PM), 20 (2PM), 23 Unless specified otherwise, the curtain rises at 7PM sharp, with the informative, fun, and free 30 minute-long pre-opera lecture by either Dr. Nicholas Reveles or Dr. Ron Shaheen from the UCSD Music Department given in the Orchestra Level 1 hr before show-time. If you are in Southern California, you can also catch a radio broadcast from a performance in this run on KPBS radio (FM 89.5) at 19:00hr on Sunday April 27th. My review of other performances at the San Diego Opera: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (2007), Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (2008), Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci (2008), Les Pecheurs de Perle (May 2008) Misc: A Few Words To Opera Newbies, Dance Thru Opera History with Munkus, Commandments for the Opera Fans, 10 Beginners-Friendly Opera, Some Friendly Diva Opera Arias (the ladies), Some Friendly Divo Opera Arias (the gents), Some Friendly Operatic Duets, Some Friendly Operatic Ensembles, 15 Favorite Opera Youtube Clips (2007), Newbies' Guide to German & French Opera, Newbies' Guide to Operetta  |
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