Stanislavsky's 'Aida'
Leaves Much to Be Desired
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/stanislavskys-aida-leaves-much-to-be-desired/499365.html
The Stanislavsky and
Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater has this season courageously taken on two
of the most formidable beasts in the operatic stable, Richard Wagner's
"Tannhäuser," which premiered last September, and Giuseppe Verdi's
"Aida," which made its debut in mid-April.
Like
"Tannhäuser," "Aida" has been treated to an excellent
staging. But also like "Tannhäuser," the production leaves much to be
desired musically, at least as heard in a performance by the first of two
casts.
Once again I was left
wondering, as often did in Moscow,
why a theater would chose to undertake an opera for which it lacks adequate
singers on its own roster and is either financially unable or simply unwilling
to fill the gaps with the right sort of guest artists from elsewhere.
Verdi composed
"Aida" on commission from the Khedive of Egypt
and its premiere took place in Cairo
on Dec. 24, 1871. Seven weeks later, the opera made its debut at Milan's Teatro alla Scala, where, unlike Cairo, the composer himself was involved in
the production and the singers were his own hand-picked cast. Its melodious
score and tale of love set in Egypt
of the third millennium B.C. enjoyed instant success and led it soon to become
a staple in the repertoire of opera houses throughout the world.
"Aida"
first came to Russia in
1875, with productions mounted just three weeks apart in St.
Petersburg and Moscow.
Its most recent Moscow
stagings were a quite clever and generally well-performed chamber version that
premiered in 1996 at Helikon Opera and a gaudily decorated, musically
underpowered production introduced a year later at the Bolshoi Theater, which
mercifully lasted only a few seasons.
To stage its "Aida," the
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko engaged
renowned German director Peter Stein, who has done away much of the pomp
and grandiosity found in traditional productions of the opera and concentrated
his attention on the intimate psychological drama that occupies two-thirds of
its length, the tale of the warrior Rhadames, his love for the Ethiopian slave
girl Aida and the jealousy of Princess Amneris, daughter of the Pharaoh, who
wishes to claim Rhadames as her husband. It all works quite well, though the
famous second-act Triumphal Scene has been pared down in scale to the point
where it seems rather cramped. There are also moments in the action where a
firm hand on the director's part seems to be missing, with the principals left
too much to their own devices.
"Aida"
plays against very effective monolithic, monochromatic sets by designer
Ferdinand Woegerbauer that are nicely suggestive of the architecture of ancient
Egypt.
For costumes, Nina Cecchi has created an eye-catching mixture that ranges from
dress appropriate to the time of the opera's action to what look like
modern-day evening gowns.
Of the six principal
singers in the first of two "Aida" casts, only the sturdy-voiced Rhadames
of Uzbek tenor Nazhmidden Mavlyanov came within striking distance of meeting
the opera's vocal demands.
Both soprano Anna
Nechaeva, borrowed from the Bolshoi, in the opera's title role, and
mezzo-soprano Larisa Andreeva, as Amneris. seemed to me examples of serious
miscasting.
Nechaeva possesses
some good clear notes at the top of her range and otherwise sings quite sweetly
at low volume. But under even moderate pressure, her voice acquires what can
best be described as a flutter, which made listening a painful experience,
especially in great arias "Ritorna vincitor!" and "O patria
mia" and the sublime duet with Rhadames in the final tomb scene.
I have greatly
admired Andreeva's light mezzo-soprano and her considerable talent as an
actress in other Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko productions. But Amneris
requires a very different voice, one both smooth and powerful and one that can
confidently reach the very depths of the female range and yet soar with ease
into soprano territory.
Baritone Anton Zaraev
lacked the vocal presence to make much impact as Aida's father, the Ethiopian
king Amonasro, while neither Dmitry Ulyanov, as the high priest Ramfis, nor
Roman Ulybin, as the Pharaoh, displayed the smooth legato so essential to the
roles Verdi wrote in the bass register.
Conductor Felix
Korobov's handling of the score struck me as essentially a work in progress,
with some passages quite sensitively interpreted and others not yet fully
mastered.
Next up on the
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko's operatic agenda is a new production of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni," staged by the theater's
artistic director of opera, Alexander Titel, and due to premiere in June. My
expectations for that run high, considering the success Titel and the theater
have enjoyed with the same composer's "Cosi fan tutte" and "The
Magic Flute."
"Aida" next
plays on July 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko
Musical Theater, located at 17 Bolshaya Dmitrovka. Metro Chekhovskaya. Tel.
(495) 723-7325. stanmus.ru.