Jan. 30th, 2012 03:42 pm
We've got a pal in Palumbo
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muckefuckAt this point, unusually, I've already reviewed Saturday's performance of Aïda a half-dozen times orally, and I can't tell whether that will make this remarks sound more focussed or more stale. The bottom line is that it's far superior to the previous performance at the Lyric and may be the best Aïda I've ever seen. (It's hard to say for sure because the first performance I saw was also one of my first opera experiences ever so obviously my critical faculties were fairly embryonic.)
First the bad news: Giordani as Radames was fairly disappointing. Very can-belto from the start. When he attempted the diminuendo at the end of "Celeste Aïda" it sounded like he was being strangled. Only much later did it occur to me that he might've been trying to cover up a cold which would've made a softer register sound raspy, so if you haven't seen it yet there's still hope. There are far worse flaws in a tenor than being shouty and one-note, but it does make for a fairly boring characterisation of a pivotal character.
Still, as I told Nuphy at the time, I'd rather have a miserable Radames and an outstanding Aïda than the other way around and I loved pretty much every bit of Sondra Radvanovsky's performance. Only once or twice did she fail to rise above the orchestra and she maintained a beautiful tone throughout (which is especially important since screechy sopranos are the bane of opera in my eyes). Jill Grove as Amneris was also outstanding and did a better job of selling her character's repentance than I've seen before.
The other voices are a mixed bag. The ever-reliable Raymond Aceto was a terrific Ramfis. Gordon Hawkins had a lot of presence as Amonasro, but his diction left something to be desired and he was surprisingly weak at times, such as during his Third Act duet with his daughter where he was drowned out by the music even as Radvanovsky sailed above it. But he still managed much better than Evan Boyer, who was completely out of depth as the Pharaoh. It doesn't really support the drama to have him as the weakest voice on stage.
That said, I can't remember the last time I heard the chorus perform this well. Despite his other criticisms (and we'll get to those soon enough), Nuphy's colleague H. was impressed that you could understand almost every word they sang. But the real joy of the evening was the conductor, Renato Palumbo. Although Nuphy's seat partner found that he took some of tempi too fast, he and I were in agreement that we loved the extra pep. Usually I'm so worn out by the final scene that I'm praying under my breath for the fools to run out of air already, but this time I actually felt moved by their plight.
Nuphy found the tomb in that scene "more Hänsel and Gretel than Egypt", but overall it's quite a good production. I even think they made some improvements to it since the last time I saw it. For one, none of us remembered the Ethiopians being blue before, but I thought it subtly brought out the racial undertones. And I certainly don't remember the dancing being this enthralling. Again, some of that might be the difference having a conductor who understands Verdi makes, but three ballets would normally be deathly and for a change I enjoyed them all.
First the bad news: Giordani as Radames was fairly disappointing. Very can-belto from the start. When he attempted the diminuendo at the end of "Celeste Aïda" it sounded like he was being strangled. Only much later did it occur to me that he might've been trying to cover up a cold which would've made a softer register sound raspy, so if you haven't seen it yet there's still hope. There are far worse flaws in a tenor than being shouty and one-note, but it does make for a fairly boring characterisation of a pivotal character.
Still, as I told Nuphy at the time, I'd rather have a miserable Radames and an outstanding Aïda than the other way around and I loved pretty much every bit of Sondra Radvanovsky's performance. Only once or twice did she fail to rise above the orchestra and she maintained a beautiful tone throughout (which is especially important since screechy sopranos are the bane of opera in my eyes). Jill Grove as Amneris was also outstanding and did a better job of selling her character's repentance than I've seen before.
The other voices are a mixed bag. The ever-reliable Raymond Aceto was a terrific Ramfis. Gordon Hawkins had a lot of presence as Amonasro, but his diction left something to be desired and he was surprisingly weak at times, such as during his Third Act duet with his daughter where he was drowned out by the music even as Radvanovsky sailed above it. But he still managed much better than Evan Boyer, who was completely out of depth as the Pharaoh. It doesn't really support the drama to have him as the weakest voice on stage.
That said, I can't remember the last time I heard the chorus perform this well. Despite his other criticisms (and we'll get to those soon enough), Nuphy's colleague H. was impressed that you could understand almost every word they sang. But the real joy of the evening was the conductor, Renato Palumbo. Although Nuphy's seat partner found that he took some of tempi too fast, he and I were in agreement that we loved the extra pep. Usually I'm so worn out by the final scene that I'm praying under my breath for the fools to run out of air already, but this time I actually felt moved by their plight.
Nuphy found the tomb in that scene "more Hänsel and Gretel than Egypt", but overall it's quite a good production. I even think they made some improvements to it since the last time I saw it. For one, none of us remembered the Ethiopians being blue before, but I thought it subtly brought out the racial undertones. And I certainly don't remember the dancing being this enthralling. Again, some of that might be the difference having a conductor who understands Verdi makes, but three ballets would normally be deathly and for a change I enjoyed them all.
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Yeah, I've seen Boyer in the RYS concerts and he hasn't been half bad. He's just too light for that role. Hopefully he'll follow in Aceto's footsteps and grow into it (before moving on to bigger and better things).
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