A Timeless Opera
On the evening of November 5th, the Metropolitan Opera presented its 1, 102nd performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s classic Aida. Yet, for a class of first time opera goers it could have been the premiere as everything from the splendid auditorium to the vast stage exuded a sense of unparalleled grandeur.
In the epic terms of traditional opera, the production recreated a masterpiece on stage that peaked and fell with the emotions of unrequited love and fatherland pride. The “Egyptian sound” of Verdi’s imagination was brought to life by conductor Kazushi Ono and set the sonic landscape to this grand drama.
In the opening scenes tenor Franco Farina as Radames delivered the famous aria “Celeste Aida” to polite applause from a knowing audience. Yet, eager students could not contain their impatience for the appearance of Angela Brown, the star of Aida. When Ms. Brown finally graced the stage in an extravagant gown and a voluminous up-do she could hardly pass for a slave, but no one disapproved. While only viewers sitting near the stage or watching through binoculars saw the expression of unharnessed emotion on Angela Brown’s face, the full auditorium enjoyed the voice of the great Verdi soprano.
Aida reached its pinnacle during the victory celebration of the second act where a three-tiered golden throne, as in a movie scene from Cleopatra, towered above a procession of five horses, a mass of shackled slaves and a troupe of dancing ballerinas. The vastness of the opera was also felt in the impetuous choir that accompanied Angela Brown in “Ritorna vincitor” and in the fury of Amneris who swept the stage advancing towards her rival Aida in a spellbinding duet “Fu la sorte dell’armi.” The sense of anxiety and jealousy transcended the language barrier of opera and reverberated in the acoustical halls of the opera house.
Although tension dominated the performance, some of Aida’s most memorable scenes were those that punctuated the escalating drama. The temple ritual at the conclusion of Act I, for example, featured chanting priestesses adorned in golden headdresses and gliding in eerie symmetry to a melody that seemed to be coming from an unknown depth. Delicate scenes such as Aida’s aria at the bank of the Nile, beautifully recreated in hues of blue were as powerful as the trumpets of the earlier victory scene.
It is startling that this nineteenth century drama stretched beyond realistic proportions could whisk away modern skepticism in its visual and auditory splendor. Aida arguably evoked the same sense of awe in our young class it did in the audience of the world premiere in Cairo in 1871.