Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Opera on the grandest scale

Verdi's Aida, perhaps because the composer thought it was his last, is truly grand, with pyramids, a love triangle, death, thundering marches - and sometimes even camels.

By JOHN FLEMING
Published April 28, 2005

[Photo: Tony Firriolo]

This scene from the Orlando Opera production of Aida demonstrates the size of the show, including its large chorus.

	[Photo courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera]
	Wiles on the Nile: Verdi’s operatic masterpiece ‘Aida’ comes to Tampa.

When is opera truly grand? When it's Aida, to be sure. Monumental productions are the rule for Verdi's melodrama about the love triangle of Amneris, the princess of Egypt; her husband-to-be, Radames, commander of the Egyptian army; and the woman Radames really loves, Aida, the Ethiopian slave of Amneris.

"Aida certainly is a grand opera in every respect," said Michael Capasso, director of the Orlando Opera production that has performances Friday and Sunday at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

"It deals with everything that is large, at least in your mind. You think of Egypt and you think of these enormous pyramids. It evokes this feeling of grandeur. It's ancient Egypt and all these priests and their rituals."

But after Aida, the definition of grand opera depends on who's defining it.

"Turandot, Carmen, La Boheme," Capasso offered as other examples of the form. "I think of anything larger than Mozart as grand opera."

A purist would disagree, limiting the term to 19th century French operas by composers like Meyerbeer, Auber and Halevy. But, as Capasso points out, those works are virtually extinct today (though Meyerbeer's L'africaine is spoofed in The Phantom of the Opera).

In general, to be "grand," an opera must have an exciting plot, be conceived on an extravagant scale, have a large chorus and ballet numbers, all present and accounted for in Aida. The Orlando production, which originated at Portland Opera in Oregon and is a collaboration with Opera Tampa, is suitably sizable, with a cast of more than 100. Marquita Lister is Aida; Drew Slatton is Radames; and Stacey Rishoi is Amneris.

Verdi's grandest opera, which had its premiere in Cairo in 1871, sometimes features live elephants and other animals in its Act 11 triumphal scene. Anton Coppola, conducting the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in the pit this weekend, has done Aida many times, including a recent production in New Jersey with a camel.

"The camel was the star of the show," Coppola said. "In this one we have a parade of soldiers carrying depictions of animals. So there's no menagerie."

Capasso is founder and general director of Dicapo Opera Theatre, a small New York company known for innovative productions such as all three versions of Madama Butterfly. This is his first time directing Aida, and he has taken a somewhat unconventional approach.

"It occurs to me that it's really a piece about Amneris, and she's the centerpiece of the action," he said. "Even though the opera is called Aida, everything comes from Amneris in one form or another."

Capasso sees the religious authorities as controlling the government in ancient Egypt, and he portrays Amneris in league with them. During the prelude, she appears to bribe Ramfis, the high priest, to aid Radames' rise in the military. This is not stipulated in the libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni.

"It's almost contrary to what I think the usual depiction is," Coppola said. "I don't know that I agree with it because it's contrary to what Verdi intended. It makes it interesting. Instead of seeing Aida as you always see it, now you see it from a different viewpoint, and why not?"

Capasso also characterizes Radames as less one-dimensional than usual. "He's depicted often as this fabulous, heroic kind of guy, but I think he's a little more than that," he said. "I think he's a bit two-faced and kind of a political animal. He's not above doing whatever he has to do to advance his career."

Normally, Aida is performed in four acts with two or three intermissions, but Capasso has structured it so there's just one intermission; the running time is about three hours. "We don't break until after the triumphal scene," he said. "I think dramatically it works very well."

Aida, with a budget of $332,000, finished a three-performance run at Orlando's Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre Tuesday night. Trucking the production to Tampa and remounting it this weekend is no small job.

"From a technical point of view, it's a nightmare," Capasso said. "The whole show has to be dismantled. A massive lighting plot has to be refocused. But the physical production and the dimensions of it are exactly the same in both places. The principals are not going to re-rehearse. The conditions (in Orlando and Tampa) are identical for them."

Verdi thought he was through with opera after Aida, but he went on to write two more masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff. Capasso thinks Falstaff may be the composer's "most brilliant creation," and he calls La Traviata "a miracle," but Aida also ranks high in his assessment of the Verdi canon.

"He never expected to write another opera after Aida, so he sort of threw everything he had at it and ended up with some stupendous music and great dramatic situations."

John Fleming can be reached at 727 893-8716 or fleming@sptimes.com

Opera Tampa presents the Orlando Opera production of Verdi's Aida at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. $24.50-$75. (813) 229-7827 or toll-free 1-800-955-1045.

[Last modified April 27, 2005, 10:13:08]