Verdi: Aida -- Royal Opera House [DVD]

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Finding myself with an hour to kill before a performance of Robert Carsen’s new production of Aida at the Royal Opera House earlier this week, I settled down in a small bar in Covent Garden with a glass of wine and a copy of If Not Critical ­– an edition of ten lectures by Eric Griffiths which were originally delivered at the Faculty of English at Cambridge University. ‘A rehearsal of Hamlet’ begins with reflections on the various small changes to the title of Shakespeare’s play – ‘Revenge’, ‘Tragedie’ and ‘True Chronicle Historie’ appeared in turn in early printings – leading Griffiths to reflect on the play’s genre and more generally on the critical opinion in Shakespeare’s time about the boundary between history and poetry. Drawing on Aristotle’s Poetics, he suggests, ‘History tells us what in fact happened, poetry lays out the pattern according to which we could have seen the events coming’. Ramfis and his acolytes are no longer mystics but senior military staff. The temple – spare wooden benches and gray walls like one of Le Corbusier’s chapels – has no religious iconography that motivates this society’s military purpose, save a few flags. It is war, duty, sacrifice themselves that are sacralized, as the chorus hold their assault rifles aloft as if divinely blessed. The sets are shaped so as to feel both claustrophobic and imposing. Amonasro, leader of the Ethiopians, is cast in Act three as a paramilitary guerrilla, as if to suggest myriad recent contemporary global insurgent wars, though his ruthlessness with Aida suggests doesn’t prompt us to feel that much sympathy for the wretched of the earth. Elder statesman steps in to conduct a majestic Mahler’s Third with the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall (27/11/2023) Sopranos Angela Caesar, Celeste Gattai, Kathryn Jenkin, Bernadette Lord, Alison Rayner, Anna Samant, Rosalind Waters, Vanessa Woodfine Mark Elder brought a masterful sound out of the house orchestra, using Verdi’s innovative orchestration to create a fresh soundworld for every scene. Tension and terror alongside triumph and tender love were all convincingly carried by the orchestra, heightening the drama. Vedi’s fiendish and exposed woodwind moments sounded gorgeous, as were Concertmaster Sergey Levitin’s solos. ROH’s Aida is a fresh take on the score’s perennial themes of love, power and war and is well worth a visit.

Actors Jamie Francis, Gregor Copeland, Rain De Rye Barrett, Chris Edgerley, David Galea, Jonathon Hands, Kyle Harrison-Pope, Jamal Lowe, Eduardo Nunez, Suleiman Suleiman Elīna Garanča delivered a show-stealing Amneris, returning to Covent Garden after her thrilling vocal partnership with SeokJong Baek in Richard Jones’ uneven “Samson et Dalila” last season. Her Act four melt-down was electrifying; her top notes are as bronzed as ever – a fine complement to Angel Blue’s more steely sound. Her middle and lower register, especially in the Act two duet with Aida, had a kind of wounded gravitas; it is a rounded and hugely involving portrayal.In this, his penultimate annual season at Covent Garden before moving to the London Symphony Orchestra, it is tempting to reach out and beg him to stay. Drawing stirring ensemble playing and intimate solos from the orchestra, he is also superbly served by the strong and immaculate chorus, always on parade or on manoeuvres and rejoicing in violence, even as interpreted in dance by choreographer Rebecca Howell. It’s not a production built on traditional spectacle, which can be both frustrating and clarifying. The ballet sequences are a mixed affair. At the top of Act two Amneris’ servants are given little more to do than extravagantly and mechanically set a dinner table, at which no one ever actually sits down to eat. The final scene takes place in a sort of weapons storage facility, which is oddly lit with a rather muddy yellow light that doesn’t capture either transcendental reconciliation to the heroes’ fate nor the score’s final invocation, perhaps hopeful, of “ pace .” Does it work? Yes and no. Verdi wrote an opera that was to be full of spectacle, and if you take the visual oohs and ahhs away then there are stretches of music that no longer have much reason to be there, yet still need filling. That’s how come we have to watch the women painstakingly laying a table, and to wait while every single soldier salutes the returning Radames, one by one.

But just listen to the first few bars of that overture. Where he might have opened with the sort of military pomp that comes later, Verdi spins a single gossamer line. Lives hang by a thread in this opera. A whisper, overheard, and not a shout, can change everything when love and duty collide. Carsen sweeps it all aside in this stark, contemporary vision of the piece, which despite its slightly wearying design arrives smartly at the dramatic nexus of Verdi’s grand operas: love and politics failing to add up, and a sense of horror about what people in love with war will do to each other. His production replaces that of David McVicar, which was notable for its gory procession in Act two, putting in its place something more abstract and chilling. Insula’s Sky Burial at the Barbican is a stunning evening, unique, and vitally important (22/11/2023) It is 20 years since Sir Antonio Pappano was first named music director of the Royal Opera House, then the youngest person to have held this post. Two decades later, audiences know that in the Italian repertoire in particular the orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera are in hands not only expert but thoughtful, passionate and kind.

Miriam Buether's set and Annemarie Woods’ costume designs emphasise the drab uniformity of a totalitarian state. Infatuation with the national flag is ever the hallmark of the shallow or insecure. Here, only the ubiquitous blue, red and white of the warmongers, plus their military regalia, punctuate shades of grey. Ramfis ( Solomon Howard) who is ordinarily a High Priest, here appears as an intimidating senior military attaché whilst the rest of the junta wouldn’t have appeared out-of-place in Mubarak’s Egypt. When he presents the General with the icon which will lead Egypt to victory in battle, here it manifests as a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Tightly choreographed set pieces involve the enormous chorus and dancers who have been drilled into a marching/fighting machine equal to any found on an equivalent parade ground or battlefield. Aside from the assault rifle distribution scene, the 2 other notable unsung orchestral interludes give rise to an inspection of the guard by the king and the laying of the victory banquet table. Both are inspired choices and add considerably to the audience’s enjoyment — if only due to the excited nervousness which comes from anticipating whether every chorus member will have managed to reach his/her designated place by the last note.

We are delighted to share details of the brand-new Cinema Season from The Royal Opera House.The 2022-23 season will be the biggest season yet with 13 world-classproductions– seven operas and six ballets. In a wonderful night for male voices, Korean bass In Sung Sim is a 21st-century pharaoh, an idolised figurehead, served by a vast army, meticulously drilled. French baritone Ludovic Tézier as Amonasro leads his vanquished people with rage and passion. But it is American bass Soloman Howard as Ramfis -– originally a high priest, here a General – who, in a Covent Garden debut to remember, drew the loudest cheers from a delighted first night audience.Egypt is at war with Ethiopia. Aida, daughter of the Ethiopian King Amonasro, has been captured and made prisoner. She now serves Amneris, the Egyptian King’s daughter, but Aida has concealed her true identity.

Carsen’s wish to show the destruction of the individual by the apparatus of the state is powerfully fulfilled by the three principals. Francesco Meli is an upright, proud Radamès, very much a man of patriotism and integrity, but convincingly humbled by love. His tenor reached strongly to the top, but sometimes without nuance, though he paced his performance effectively. As Aida, Elena Stikhina gave an astonishingly insightful portrait of emotional suffering and inner conflict. This was not a showy performance, and at first I wondered if her soprano would rise above the resounding orchestral forces, but she saved her vocal intensity for the latter stages of the opera where it made a tremendously affecting impression. Rarely has torment and anguish sounded so sweet. Agnieszka Rehlis’s Amneris transformed persuasively from a spoilt, contemptuous schemer to a woman rent apart by despair when her pleading with the priests fails to save Radamès from his fate. The performance was dominated by two artists: the Amneris of Elīna Garanča and the conducting of Sir Mark Elder. Elder found such detail in the score – the orchestra played at its very best for him throughout, the opening of the first act beautifully, keenly phrased, the great musical arches of the big choral scenas perfectly traced. Elder is a man of the theatre, and how it showed. As for Elīna Garanča, she dominated the stage throughout, effortlessly, her voice strong, resolute and rich from her first entrance. Worth mentioning, as the Aida on this occasion, Angel Blue, took a little while to warm into the role of the captured Ethiopian princess (also in contrast to Elena Stikhina last time round). Once she had centred herself, though, Blue’s vocal strength was all there (a fine ‘O patria mia’) – a pity she did not show an equal dramatic presence to that of Garanča. Plenty of opportunities for the Chorus of the Royal Opera House to shine in this grand spectacle, which they did (notwithstanding a temporary disagreement with Elder about tempo in Act two, which will presumably iron itself out). Nothing is more exciting than quiet singing – the Act one scene in the temple saw superlative, feather-soft singing from the men of the chorus, the sound veiled and blooming. It was an unearthly moment of beauty that hinted at some residual humanity hidden behind the bellicose world of the opera. But the whole was so much more than the sum of its parts thanks to Elder’s sure direction, delivering real, spine-tingling grandeur in the choral scenes while balancing chorus and orchestra impeccably. The autumn season of Jamiel Devernay-Laurence’s Ballet Nights reaches its Grande Finale (26/11/2023)The safety of our visitors, staff and artists is still our priority. There are hand sanitiser stations throughout the building. To help us provide a comfortable experience for everyone, please be mindful of others and their personal space. In closing it is worth mentioning newcomer Andrés Presno whose brief appearance as the Messenger presaged a great future. Who knows, he may be delivering his own Radamés in the not-too-distant future. In her drab beige pinafore, by contrast, it is through the gleaming soprano voice of Russia soprano Elena Stikhina that Aida shines. Her musical phrasing and utmost control is all the colour she needs to make a big impression. The Belfast Ensemble conducted by Tom Deering in rehearsal at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Photograph: Neil Harrison