Verdi: Aida [Stefano Palatchi, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Daniela Dessi, Fabio Armiliato] [Opus Arte: OAMO6009D] [DVD] [2013] [NTSC]

With the one possible exception of Don Carlos, Aida is the Verdi historic opera which most lends itself to spectacle within a traditional setting. In his return to La Scala after a long absence Franco Zeffirelli has certainly achieved this with a most elaborate and for the most part pleasing staging. There are some disappointments for the great climax of act two is mishandled. The stage is over packed with artistes, there is no actual physical march and the ballet is insipid. Such minor quibbles apart it was a great pleasure to view this production after enduring the horrors of the "alternative" staging put on by Covent Garden in December 1994.A great achievement is the very fine playing of the orchestra under the baton of Riccardo Chailly. Among the singers the stand out is Ildiko Komlosi who is a very effective and evil Amneris. It is the tenor's misfortune that his great aria comes so early in the opera and here the singing of Roberto Alagna, the most famous name in the cast, came across as seriously laboured. Things were to improve greatly in both acts three and four. At a time adjacent to this production Alagna had incurred some audience disfavour but here a keeness for audience approbation was evident in his thumbs up signal to the gallery during curtain call.This production has much to recommend it and a standard film version would have been very acceptable. Unfortunately somewhere along the way somebody decided that the film record should be an art house movie. Consequently the viewer is obliged to endure splashes of colour, bits of cloth and outsize trumpets as far too frequent and totally unnecessary introductions. These distractions have the great capacity to both irritate and spoil the flow of the film for the viewer. For more than twenty years the very experienced Brian Large has been the master of inhouse opera filming and to my knowledge he has never felt the need for such absurd innovations.Aida is well served on DVD but as an introduction or cornerstone of a collection the Met's spectacular version with its jaw-dropping Triumphal March, under the baton of James Levine is difficult to beat. It is the great achievement of both Cheryl Studer and Luciana D'Intino that by their superlative singing they can rise abolve the wreckage of the staging and costume design of Covent Garden's 1994 production. Roberto Alagna is at his very best in the title role of the Covent Garden production of FaustTrottman

I loved the whole thing. I have many Aida's but this was purism at its finest. I could never take too Aida being done in fatigues or other abominations. Without doubt the star here is the setting itself. Its incredible to think that these flat but beautifully painted paper screens were first created in the 1940's. As a purist I can really appreciate the perspective and artistry achieved. Pure attractive theatre! Also costumes are a delight of colour and an echo of ancient Egyptian art. Atmospheric lighting as one would expect made a beautiful theatrical experience. My late father was a Theatre stage chief electrician from 1952 until 1970 so I was brought up on theatre staging! Thoroughly delightful! Musically also near perfect although some of the sudden changes of tempo seamed a bit alien to what I was used to from other recordings. The main Characters had astounding voices as this beautiful masterpiece should have. The second act procession and ballet was complete and aslo brilliantly done. Everything was just so very perfect so I can thoroughly recommend.

This blu-ray is incorrectly subtitled as "Starring Violeta Urmana and Roberto Alagna". The correct subtitle should be "Starring Franco Zeffirelli and Franco Zeffirelli".Despite the riot of coloured viscose and polyester the staging is exquisite, with all the Zeffirelli glitter one expects. However, this blu-ray suffers from the most awful video editing that distracts from the drama attempting to focus your attention on the fine fabrics, shiny amulets and Zefferelli details.Performances are mostly good but not spectacular. Urmana sings well enough but Alagna is not on his finest form. Komlosi's Amneris for me gives the best performance and the orchestra under Chailly is superb. Audio quality is good.But what spoils this version for me (apart from the continued practice of blacking-up Aida) most of all is the eye-wateringly ludicrous Dance of the Priestesses, performed by a ballerina who should have been paid with luncheon vouchers, pretentiously prancing about like someone from amateur rep. In fact it reminded me of The Dude's landlord in The Great Lebowski. A very atmospheric part of the opera utterly ruined.