Stripped of color and decoration, pharaohs, hieroglyphs and all of the panoply that fed into Nineteenth-century Egyptomania, Verdi’s Aida stays rebelliously intact. Two nations are embattled, two folks from reverse sides – Egypt and Ethiopia – fatefully in love. The story is historic, the politics nonspecific. Battle, whether or not camouflaged by the imperatives of ardour or faith, is at all times to the fore. Verdi’s music is the binding pressure, with grand choruses, virtuosic solos and an orchestration of seductive however sinister element: these serpentine low woodwind solos, the baleful low brass, the trumpet fanfares so shameless and brash they epitomise totalitarian energy.
Into this cast-iron musical mould, Robert Carsen has poured his molten fashionable setting for the Royal Opera Home, the primary new manufacturing of the season, carried out by Antonio Pappano. Egypt is sketchily however determinedly evoked within the temple-like construction of Miriam Buether’s designs: extreme gray blocks interrupted solely by a flash of color in carpet or flag, or within the boxy fits favoured by Amneris (Agnieszka Rehlis), daughter of the king of Egypt however certainly a scion of the home of Trump. We're in an any-place regime the place the militia holds sway and photorealist icons of the ruler are the one allowable ornament. Army uniforms – costumes by Annemarie Woods – conjure the faceless extremes of battle, from the khaki drabness of battle to the peaked-cap glory of victory.
Verdi’s work, premiered in Cairo in 1871, rises to an imposing climax within the celebrated triumphal march of Act 2. That is the place you place the elephants in case you have them; horses and lions too, should you fancy. The problem is methods to maintain the drama in any case that spectacle with out it being an anticlimax. In Carsen’s staging, the spoils will not be dwelling creatures however Egypt’s personal useless. Coffins are eliminated one after the other, a disturbing reversal of this scene’s common additive, trophy-on-trophy course of. The second half ebbs to an intimate finale, with a rating of orchestral subtlety and invention that factors in direction of masterpieces but to come back, particularly Don Carlos and Otello. Pappano, and the ROH musicians, opened our ears to Verdi’s genius, by means of pacing, texture, stability.
Not all labored on first evening. There was some wayward intonation from varied quarters, which is able to settle. The Italian tenor Francesco Meli, because the Egyptian battle hero Radames, reminded us of the merciless issue of tackling the heights of Celeste Aida solely minutes after curtain up. He got here into his personal, nonetheless, within the very important love exchanges with Aida. Because the enslaved Ethiopian princess of the title, the Russian soprano Elena Stikhina ranged from seemingly, and generally truly, underpowered to magnificent, however she is at all times sympathetic and fascinating. Rehlis, the Polish mezzo-soprano making her Royal Opera debut, has putting presence and a potent, clotted vocal tone, although Italian vowels had been laborious to find. Soloman Howard’s Ramfis, and Ludovic Tézier because the Ethiopian king Amonasro, effective singers each, commanded consideration at each entry. The evening belonged above all to the refrain. Their precision, and the thrilling fortissimos and whispers this work calls for, from the boys particularly, made them the celebrities.
Lest we had been grabbling for issues to fret about final week, two occasions took on the world, one philosophically, the opposite environmentally. For its annual staging, Blackheath Halls Opera, an exemplary enterprise with out age restrict and open to all, selected Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (ebook by Hugh Wheeler after Voltaire, mercifully shortened right here). Carried out by Christopher Stark, directed by Sebastian Harcombe and designed by Elliott Squire, this gallop from disillusionment to hope was stuffed with zest and pleasure. If perfection is your precedence, go elsewhere. If coronary heart, soul and inspirational music-making are extra your factor, that is the place.
The alchemy lies in uniting youth and grownup choruses, college students from Trinity Laban, native youngsters and a pro-am orchestra, with first-class soloists. Nick Pritchard, singing Candide, is without doubt one of the finest youthful technology tenors round, lyrically gifted, each phrase clear, in a position to act, in all respects excellent. Frederick Lengthy (the hopelessly optimistic Pangloss), Sarah Pring (a wickedly humorous Previous Girl) and rising star Ellie Neate (tender and persuasive as Cunegonde) led a vigorous solid who all deserve credit score. The ultimate refrain raised roof and spirits, a hovering finish to an affecting night.
As a part of the Southbank Centre’s season-opening weekend, Manchester Collective carried out Michael Gordon’s Climate, a cult 1997 work for string ensemble and electronics. With visuals by the Spanish film-maker Carlos Casas and new, extra sounds by the sector recordist Chris Watson, local weather catastrophe is the main target. As Gordon’s music pulsated and shuddered in stressed, unravelling patterns, large pictures performed earlier than our eyes: desert rock, shrinking glaciers, an eroding East Anglian coast, a glistening rainforest. The 20 amplified gamers gave their all to this tiring rating, standing barefoot on a shiny stage that seemed like a slick of black oil. This work, noisy, sobering, dizzying, affords no simple conclusions. Neither is it one to neglect, which stands out as the level.
Star rankings (out of 5)
Aida ★★★★
Candide ★★★★
Manchester Collective ★★★★
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