Verdi’s greatest show on earth Aida is spectacular in every way

Opera Australia pulls out all the stops for Verdi’s greatest show on earth in new Aida production.

Opera Australia's spectacular production of Verdi's Aida is a visual treat. Picture: Keith Saunders

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Musically, Verdi reached his peak with the three greats — Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La Traviata — but in terms of sheer spectacle Aida trumps them all.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Opera Australia’s lavish revival, with its awesome emphasis on swirling digital backgrounds, complemented by the composer’s magnificent choruses together with outstanding vocal dynamics from the lead singers.

There’s a bit of nudity too in some of the sinuous dance sequences.

Visually, Aida is a wondrous treat. David Livermore and Shaun Rennie, director and revival director respectively, plus set designer Gia Forma, have outdone themselves here, helped in no small degree by Gianluca Falaschi’s striking costume designs.

The cast is huge; scores of singers on stage march, pivot and even gyrate in one huge choreographed fantasy.

Warwick Fyfe as Amonasro and Leah Crocetto. Picture: Keith Saunders

But it is the digital backgrounds that linger in memory: huge vertical screens containing moving images of clouds, flames, night skies and out-size human figures, many of them naked, or near as.

One of the most striking background images is one of a giant, sinewy black panther, facing the audience head-on, yellow eyes blinking and subtle adjustments in its body emphasising the unsettling feeling that it is about to pounce.

Its appearance comes with the appearance on stage of Franco-Russian mezzosoprano Elena Gabouri, as the Egyptian princess Amneris, and that’s no coincidence. We can sense something of the raw emotions and predatory nature both creatures share.

This opera is a tale of love, jealousy and war, with Amneris and the captive slave Aida, played by American soprano Leah Crocetto, competing for the attentions of the sucscessful general Radames, performed by Uzbekistani tenor Najmiddin Mavlyanov.

Crocetto has an agile coloratura, with a soaring top, beautifully defined phrasing and power aplenty.

Uzbekistani tenor Najmiddin Mavlyanov as Radames in Verdi’s Aida. Picture: Keith Saunders

Mavlyanov couldn’t quite match that sort of level, not many singers could, but his tenor was strong, smooth and rich in emotional intensity.

Everyone’s favourite bass baritone, Australian Warwick Fyfe, made a welcome return to OA’s Sydney stage as Amonasro, Aida’s father and commander of Egypt’s Ethiopian enemies. His stentorian voice and commanding presence lent gravitas to the production.

Fyfe, a Helpmann award winner, enthusiastic Wagner scholar and Winston Churchill fellow, frequently performs overseas.

Of a similar calibre, the deep, deep bass of Roberto Scandiuzzi, as the high priest Ramfis, provided a darker undertone to the proceedings on opening night. Audiences may remember him from last week’s opening of Rigoletto, in which he played the assassin, Sparafucile.

Conductor Stuart Stratford controlled the pace with assurance born of long experience.

The digital wizardry that contributed so much to the production is credited to a company called D-Wok.

Aida was commissioned by the Egyptian government, but not actually used, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The opera house for which it was intended opened with Rigoletto. Aida was first performed in Cairo in 1871.

DETAILS

• OPERA Aida

• STARS Leah Crocetto, Elena Gabouri, Najmiddin Mavlyanov, Warwick Fyfe, Roberto Scandiuzzi

• AT Sydney Opera House

• UNTIL July 21

• BOOKINGS 9250 7111, [e-mail]