|
Stories of forbidden love have been told numerous
times but none have ever sounded so grand. If you
have never heard of this wonderful opera, Aida, let
me give you a quick run down.
With war raging between
their two countries, the Ethiopian slave, Aida, and
the Egyptian princess, Amneris, both fall in love
with the same Egyptian war hero, Radames. A slip of
the heart and a slip of the tongue seal the fates of
the beautiful Aida and her heroic Radames in this,
opera’s most explosive tale. When he’s condemned to
death, she slips into the dark crypt where they will
be entombed together. Forever.
King of Egypt
(Jeffrey Beuran) and Amneris (Leann Sandel-Pantaleo)
Photo credit © Cory Weaver for Portland Opera
Aida wraps up the Portland Opera’s season of “Great
Women of the Stage”. Lead by the powerful Lisa
Daltirus, making her Portland Opera debut as Aida,
the cast boasts a wide range of new artists to the
Portland stage. Lisa is no stranger to the role of
Aida. From coast to coast, she has been giving an
amazing performance of the star-crossed lover. The
entire cast brings a heart gripping performance to
all four acts.
Although their breathtaking vocal chords could
easily stand on their own, the conducting by
Vjekoslav Sutej is very worthy of praise. The music
alone commands your attention. Currently he is the
music director of the Zagreb Philharmonic.
The story, but not its music, was used as the basis
for the Elton John and Tim Rice musical of the same
name.
Amonasro (Greer
Grimsley) and Aida (Lisa Daltirus)
Photo credit © Cory Weaver for Portland Opera
So, where did this story come from? Ismail Pasha,
Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Giuseppe Verdi to
write the opera for performance in January 1871,
paying him 150,000 francs, but the premiere was
delayed because of the Franco-Prussian War. Contrary
to popular belief, the opera was not written to
celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, nor
that of the Khedivial Opera House (which opened with
Verdi's Rigoletto) in the same year. Thanks to
Wikipedia for that information.
Aida was met with great acclaim when it finally
opened in December 1871, and it continues to be a
staple of the standard operatic repertoire. It
appears as number sixteen on Opera America's list of
the 20 most-performed operas in North America.
The 2008/09 season, which kicks off September 26th
with another Verdi piece, La Traviata, is set to be
a season of “Life on the Edge”. The season includes
Beethoven’s Fidelio, Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of
the Screw, Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Cavalli’s La
Calisto. If you can catch the last couple
performances of Aida along with the other two Verdi
performances next season, you can enjoy your own
mini Verdi festival.
Aida at the
Portland Opera
©
2007 All content property of European Weekly unless where otherwise
accredited
|
