Some like it Old-fashioned in Music and Vision 30 January

Some like it Old-fashioned
Verdi's 'Aida' began the 2012 season
at Parma's Teatro Regio,
and GIUSEPPE PENNISI was there

Giuseppe Verdi's Aida is nearly as well known as Bizet's Carmen and Mozart's Don Giovanni. It is common knowledge that the opera had been commissioned by the Khedive (ruler, or Viceroy) of Egypt -- an Albanian who had introduced Italian as the Court's language -- for the inauguration of the Cairo Opera House. According to original plans, the Opera House had to be inaugurated in parallel with the Suez Canal. As it happened. But the inaugural opera was not Aida but a locally produced Rigoletto because, meantime, the Franco-Prussian war had erupted. The stage sets and costumes had been carefully made in the labs of the Paris Opéra under the vigilant eyes of French Egyptologists, and it was not safe to ship these items across the Mediterranean sea. Eventually, the premiere took place on 24 December 1871 -- a tremendous success -- with music critics from all over the world in the audience. La Scala premiered it in Europe 8 February 1872. Thereafter, Aida started a long travel all over the world. Verdi had received a huge commission from the Cairo Opera House. Royalties were immense; they financed the foundation and residence for old musicians still operating in Milan.
The libretto had been written by Verdi's favorite author Antonio Ghislanzoni (after the death of Piave and Somma) on the basis of a scenario (indeed almost a detailed screenplay) by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. The text follows conventions of French grand-opéra (four acts, at least two ballets), but the Cairo Opera House did not have either the size or the facilities of the Parisian Palais Garnier. In January 1969, I visited the Cairo Opera House for Berg's Wozzeck given by a touring German Democratic Republic company to 'friend socialist countries'. Later, after a fire which destroyed the 1870 structure, a new modern theatre was built in the same Midam Opera square. The original house I saw in 1969 was a comparatively small eight hundred seat Italian style theatre (including boxes and upper tiers) patterned on Rome's Teatro Valle, where Rossini's Cenerentola had been premiered on 25 January 1817 and where the Khedive enjoyed visiting during his not so rare trips to Italy. The stage was comparatively small with no room for grandiose sets; also the pit was not very large -- at the Aida premiere the second harp was on the stage.
In short, in spite of the centennial tradition of Aida as a colossal show with horses and even an elephant on stage, Verdi and Ghislanzoni conceded to the Parisian ballet conventions but designed a rather intimate plot and score. With the exception of the second scenes of the first and the second acts, where the ballet is prominent, rarely more than three (and often only two) characters are on stage at the same time. The British musicologist Roger Parker considers it a 'conservative opera' because, as in Il Trovatore and Un Ballo in Maschera, with exception of Amneris, the principal characters 'hardly develop' during the plot. In my view, this is a rather unfair judgment.
Verdi had not yet listened to a Wagner opera; he attended the Italian premiere of Lohengrin on 19 November 1871 sitting alone in box 23 of the second tier at the Bologna Teatro Comunale and getting, by his own account, 'terribly bored'. However in Aida there is a considerable array of variations within the recurring duet theme (nearly a leitmotiv). Also, the grand ceremonial scene in the second act is far from standard grand opéra in the style of Halévi or Meyerbeer: a flexible variation technique allows episodes such as the opening chorus to reappear at the end of the scene. Also, the entire third act is extremely modern and highly innovative (for 1870) with various multi-movement duets that dovetail into each other. Finally, the rich orchestration: a very complex score, albeit sounding very simple at a superficial hearing, constantly alluding to the ambiance in harmony and instrumentations with special tints -- eg a solar tint in the second act juxtaposed to a dark night tint in the third act. Finally, each of the eight scenes has a unity on his own in that individual numbers (arias, duets) are fully integrated by the symphonic wholeness of the orchestra; a proceeding theorized and formalized by Richard Wagner in the same period. In short, I agree with the late German musicologist Gerhart von Westerman: 'the music of Aida is of marvelous beauty'. In the opera, Verdi's skill reached its climax in finding a valid means of expression through the power of the melodic line. The late Italian musicologist Massimo Mila devoted most of his life to the study of Verdi and rightly wrote that, in spite of its superficial appearance, Aida is not standard fare but a very 'troublesome and intriguing work'.
In the last thirty years, whilst open air productions have continued to give priority to the monumental and ceremonial aspects of Aida, a number of stagings have placed emphasis on its intimate features -- eg John Dexter at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Bob Wilson at the Paris Châtelet and at Rome's Teatro dell'Opera and especially Franco Zeffirelli in a 2001 production conceived for the small Teatro Verdi of Busseto ((with three hundred and fifty sets including two rows of boxes) but which travelled extensively in Europe and also to the USA.

A scene from Verdi's 'Aida' at Teatro Regio di Parma. Photo © 2012 Roberto Ricci. Click on the image for higher resolution
The Teatro Regio of Parma plans to produce all Verdi's 27 operas as a DVD boxed set for the bicentenary of the composer's birth in 2013; Aida could not fall short and was selected to inaugurate the 2012 season on 27 January; the production will also be seen in Modena and Reggio Emilia. I attended the 27 January opening night. The staging is not entirely new but a remake by American stage director Joseph Franconi Lee of a 2005 production by the late Alberto Fassini. The stage sets are signed by Mauro Carosi, the choreography by Marta Ferri. Almost in parallel, the Teatro alla Scala in nearby Milan is rediscovering a grand 1962 Aida with stage direction and sets by Franco Zeffirelli and the elegant costumes by Lila De Nobili. In Milan from 14 February to 10 March there will be three casts under the musical direction of thirty-year-old up-and-coming baton star Omer Meir Wellber. The Zeffirelli production is well known and well toured internationally: a Cecil B Demille Aida, but sophisticated rather than merely spectacular. Well, opera dramaturgy and staging do change, but when it comes to Aida, some like it old fashioned.

Susanna Branchini in the title role of Verdi's 'Aida' (Act I) at Teatro Regio di Parma. Photo © 2012 Roberto Ricci. Click on the image for higher resolution
As it is designed for a set of DVDs to be marketed internationally, the colossal and monumental approach is, to a large extent, an obligation. The main set has two levels, the upper level for the 'powers' (eg the King, the High Priest and the other priests), the lower for the more human characters (such as Aida, Radames, Amneris, Amonasro) with their personal sufferings and passionate love stories. The main set is very much based on a visionary Egypt as seen and depicted, for instance, by Gustave Moreau whose Salomé is dated 1871 -- the very year of Aida's premiere. Also the mass movements are skillful, the costumes elegant, the dance fits nicely with the dramatic action and the lighting is well in focus with the tints of the score. Joseph Franconi Lee introduced an innovation to Fassini's original staging: the front stage is expanded and the drama among the four main characters evolves there. A tribute to the more modern readings of Aida as well as a means of emphasizing its intimate aspects. As the intention is philological, the opera is presented with three intermissions, not with only one as it is now customary. This makes for a nearly Wagnerian evening from 8pm until just after midnight. Furthermore, the opening night was delayed by an industrial action protest -- fixed-term contract technicians had organized a meeting on the stage to get permanent contracts.

Walter Fraccaro as Radames in Act I of Verdi's 'Aida' at Teatro Regio di Parma. Photo © 2012 Roberto Ricci. Click on the image for higher resolution
The musical direction is entrusted to a comparatively young conductor, Antonino Fogliani. Also the orchestra is philological: eg with two harps (but both of them are in the pit), not four or even six as I saw in the Verona open air arena. Fogliani keeps the balance between the pit and the stage quite well. This is not a small achievement because, as described, the action is on three levels and the protagonists are not short in volume. The chorus (directed by Martino Faggiani) does not lack stamina or power, and is one of the effective protagonists of the performance. Nonetheless, on 27 January, Fogliani did not fully recreate all the subtleties of the orchestral score. He was amazingly skillful in evoking an atmosphere with the simplest devices in the delicate prelude to the third act with its spread pianissimo octaves in the muted violins, the sound of the cellos and above them a solo flute. He was also effective in emphasizing the yearning Aida's motif on which the delicate, reserved prelude is based. But he was not equally ripe in centering the brilliant pageantry of the second act, when Amonasro pleads to the King, and on such a plea, Verdi builds the grand concertato in which the prisoners, Aida, and the people ask for mercy while the Priests rigidly stand out against them.

Mariana Pentcheva as Amneris in Act I of Verdi's 'Aida' at Teatro Regio di Parma. Photo © 2012 Roberto Ricci. Click on the image for higher resolution
A pretty good cast was assembled for the production. Susanna Branchini (Aida) is a 'spinto' lyric soprano who has sung Aida from Palermo to Hong Kong. Her first act Numi Pietà and third act O Patria Mia are highly dramatic, almost on the verge of a Puccini rather than a Verdi heroine; she is often the interpreter of Tosca and Madame Butterfly. The hard-to-please Parma audience appreciated and applauded her open stage. The Bulgarian mezzo Mariana Pentcheva is her rival, Amneris. Passionate sensuality fills her carnal second act aria with chorus, Ah! vieni, vieni, amor mio m'inebbria. Especially good were her low tonalities, but in the fourth act duet, she stumbles on an un-required superacute never composed by Verdi to stand the shouting tenor, Walter Fraccaro.

Walter Fraccaro as Radames and Susanna Branchini in the title role of Verdi's 'Aida' (Act III) at Teatro Regio di Parma. Photo © 2012 Roberto Ricci. Click on the image for higher resolution
He is Radames, the man Aida and Amneris are contesting for. Fraccaro is a generous tenor; his first act romance, Celeste Aida, is fervent and intense, with joy pervading his shout of love. He was quite good in the second act. But, in spite of his experience in the role, he made a series of errors in the impervious third act, where a Wagnerian heldtenor may be required to handle the part. He was booed by the severe upper tier, and from then on he went downhill, even missing pitches (eg confusing an E for a high C). In the fourth act, his voice trembled, and in the duet with Amneris, he attempted to cover his problems by shouting, with the result that the mezzo tried to face up to him with the already mentioned unnecessary superacute. Also, in the final scene, Branchini expresses supreme ecstasy in the melody in which Aida and Radames take leave of life but Fraccaro had little color and kept filling the theatre with his powerful volume even if the score demands a path to the final pianissimo. The baritone Alberto Gazale (Amonasro) is another veteran of the role and has the right pitch for a Verdian baritone. Stern and strong in his second act plea, he was almost tender in his third act duet with Branchini. The other soloists were good: Carlo Malinverno (the King), Giovanni Battista Parodi (Ramfis, the High Priest), Yu Guangun (the Priestess), Cosimo Vassallo (the Messenger). At the curtains calls, Branchini and Gazale were warmly applauded, Pencheteva and Fogliani had a mixed reception and Francaro was booed.

Mariana Pentcheva as Amneris in Act IV of Verdi's 'Aida' at Teatro Regio di Parma. Photo © 2012 Roberto Ricci. Click on the image for higher resolution
A final comment: on 25 and 27 January 2012 there were two earthquakes in the Parma area with an intensity of 5.4 on Richter's scale. The singers, the orchestra, the staff and the audience braved their nervousness, and went to theatre knowing that up there, Verdi was talking to the Almighty. Incidentally, Verdi died in a hotel in Milan on 27 January 1901.
Some like it old fashioned. Verdi would have appreciated this Aida and, mercifully, would have made good for Fraccaro and Fogliani. There are times when being old fashioned works and augurs well for the DVD sales.
Copyright © 30 January 2012 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy

GIUSEPPE VERDI
AIDA
PARMA
ITALY
TEATRO REGIO
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