Aida [Blu-ray]

Not a 'star' studded cast, but a truly sterling performance.
I find little to fault the conducting of Zubin Mehta in this Florence Aida production. Mehta knows the stuff inside out, and he paces the dramatic nuances with real circumspection.
The sets are elegant, if not outright grandiose. Particularly worthy of mention is the lighting and make-up for the singers.
In the vocal cast, D'Intino as Amneris is to be considered as a late reprisal, the former one being made on DVD in 1996! While not as vocally fresh as she then was, her singing is still a tour de force in the category of Verdian mezzo-soprano.
As the hero Radames, Berti sings everything right. Not nearly one single instance of vocal misjudgment could be evident. That said, his voice is not the most beautiful of Verdian tenors, but his characterisation is still fully convincing.
As Amonasro, Maestri is perhaps the most vocally (and visually) convincing member of the male cast. Prestia as Ramfis runs close to him in the low male-voice category.
In the title...

Looks fabulous, but lacking where it counts
Aida is a tricky opera to stage effectively. It doesn't hold up well to modernisation or revisionism, demanding a very specific mood and setting that one messes with at one's peril. I've seen it done before in a Risorgimento updating to Verdi's time and in Robert Wilson's particular minimalist style, both of which were interesting, but neither were entirely successful. On the other hand, a traditional approach to Aida requires both a big stage to match the grandeur of Verdi's compositions of ceremonial marches through ancient monuments, and not everyone has the budget to go for the Full Zeffirelli. Even then however, the lack of dramatic incident and the demands placed on the singers mean that even a traditional setting can be rather static. Directed by Turkish-Italian filmmaker Ferzan Ozpetek, the Florence production of Aida, recorded here in 2011, tends towards the traditional and looks marvellous, but in how it approaches those other considerable challenges that a staging of...

Disappointing Staging and Acting
I found this production to be almost unbearably static -- it's very much a stand-pose--and-deliver performance, and Zubin Mehta seems totally bored and perfuctory. The Triumphal March gets very short shrift compared to other productions. There is one very astonishing effect at the very end of the opera having to do with the entombed lovers. I won't reveal it here, lest I spoil it for first-time viewers, but it's something I haven't seen so dramatically realized in other productions. I only wish the rest of the production had been nearly as arresting. I'm still looking for a rewarding blu-ray Aida.

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