Ramfis, however, is not quite a fit dramatically for bass-baritone Christian van Horn, which came as a surprise since he generally commands the stage. The size and clarity of George Gagnidze’s voice made for a particularly menacing Amonasro. With vocal glamor on par with her physical allure, Petrova was a particularly potent Amneris. She also indulged in a bit of camp Frisell’s staging invites it. Petrova could be imperious or fragile in the flash of an eye. The most fascinating and multi-faceted characterization was Olesya Petrova’s Amneris. A column perilously teetered, and the horse garnered a round of applause when it trotted off stage, but the tenor still emerged victorious. Jagde was upstaged only once by a skittish horse drawing the chariot in which he made his entrance during the Triumphal March. Jagde is not the first tenor to ignore Verdi’s dynamic marking for morendo (dying away) on the final high B-flat but few make the note sound so easy. In Act I, when most tenors appear to be on edge preparing to sing “Celeste Aida” after just a few minutes on stage, he projected a calm eagerness. She was on far firmer vocal footing in the final act.īrian Jagde’s youthful vigor, matinee-idol looks, and gleaming tenor made for an ideal Radames. If there is an opportunity to swoop, she goes for it, and “O patria mia” suffered for those reasons. At times, however, her soprano lacks focus and her singing is mannered. Her high notes ring out loud and clear, soaring into the house with ease. Moore is a compelling Aida, but less than vocally ideal. Her emotional connection to the role is real and at its fiery best when the Ethiopian princess is caged or confronted. She triumphed and has gone on to sing the role in opera houses around the world. Latonia Moore made her Met debut as Aida in 2012 as a last- minute substitute for Violeta Urmana. Music, however, trumped spectacle in this performance with the cast which the Met assembled and conductor Paolo Carignani in the pit. With a production of this scale, there is the potential for the cast to be overwhelmed by the visuals. Intimacy is no longer something to which the Egyptian princess can aspire. In the final scene, Aida and Radames express their love in a confined space beneath the massive temple where Amneris prays for peace. Amneris’s chambers are fit for a princess, but on a scale that puts the focus on her confrontation with Aida. For the Triumphal March, which follows, the stage is packed with choristers, trumpeters, dancers, and scores of supernumeraries.įrisell, however, clearly delineates the private sphere from the public. The most spectacular scene change is In Act II, when the Memphis city gates descend from above as Amneris’ chamber is slowly lowered out of sight. Humans are dwarfed by statues of gods, of which often only the lower portions are visible. Gianni Quaranta’s sets remain awe-inspiring. Performed over 240 times at the Met, Frisell’s staging has put the grand in opera since it premiered in 1988. Circumstances dictated otherwise, and so it returned for one final run on Friday evening. In 2019, the Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb announced that Sonja Frisell’s grand and glorious production of Aida would be retired. Brian Jagde as Radames and Latonia Moore in the title role of Verdi’s Aida at the Metropolitan Opera.
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