Aida opera dazzles with theatrics, disappoints with overwhelming set [A-]

By Miles Kruppa     11/5/13 6:00pm

The Houston Grand Opera opens its season with an old standby and a true operatic heavyweight: Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. The HGO throws everything it has at this production: acclaimed American mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick; a vibrantly colored and elaborate set; and the surprise appearance of a large, blue elephant prop on stage. As a celebration of Verdi's 200th birthday, the production, held at the Wortham Center, is a spectacle that dazzles despite its missteps.

Aida tells the story of the king of Ethiopia's daughter Aida, who has been enslaved by Amneris, the Egyptian king's daughter. Aida and Radames, a captain of the Egyptian guard, find themselves entangled in an illicit love affair that is further complicated by Radames' appointment to command the army against an Ethiopian invasion and by Amneris' unreciprocated love for Radames.At its core, Aida touches on universal yet deeply personal dilemmas, most notably that of loyalty in the face of great personal demands. As Radames begins to realize the depth of his love for Aida, his mind wanders to fleeing the country he just fought for. When the Egyptian king brings him to trial on various counts of deception and revelation of Egyptian secrets, Radames refuses to speak on his own behalf because he would rather die than live without Aida. In the HGO's staging, which shields the trial behind a large, backlit, grated screen, the negative space of Radames' silence creates a feeling of emptiness and detachment for an audience accustomed to Aida and Radames' soaring voices filling the room. It stands as one of the most powerful and understated scenes in a production full of captivating moments.

In the love triangle of Radames, Amneris and Aida, it is Amneris' character who faces the largest internal struggles and experiences the most growth. Voiced by Zajick, arguably the best Verdian mezzo-soprano voice in the world, Amneris' internal conflict finds a voice capable of expressing shrill jealousy and desperate longing. As Amneris understands the consequences Radames faces after she tells the Egyptian king of his plans to run away from Egypt on a road unattended by the Egyptian army, Zajick creates emotional gravity that transcends the stage. Amneris, like the audience, witnesses Radames' trial behind a gate. Zajick's confident rendering conveys Radames' jealousy and regret effectively in this moment of weakness. Taken with her performance in the HGO's production of Verdi's Il Trovatore during the 2012-13 season, Zajick demonstrates she has command over any Verdi mezzo-soprano role she plays. Her performance is alone worth the price of admission. 

---

---

In the roles of Aida and Radames, respectively, Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastryska and Italian tenor Riccardo Massi express an intimate love through their clear, buoyant voices. Though Monastryska's voice sometimes falters in lower registers, she shines brightly in "O patria mia" as she awaits Radames on the eve of his marriage to Amneris. In the final act, their beautifully sung collective invocation of the god Ptah as the set closes around them ends the opera on a remarkably sad and beautiful note.

Productions of Aida often suffer from overly elaborate sets and costumes. Unfortunately, the HGO indulges in that trend. The set, a vision of Egypt imagined in a Seuss-like, almost-neon spectrum of color, removes much of the gravity of the production. The music in Act II, in which Radames is given a hero's send-off to war, stands alone as a bombastic expression in itself, yet the HGO's production pushes it over the edge with a bright blue elephant that clutters the stage. Still, the HGO's staging shines brightly during Radames' trial and death, both moments devoid of  the type of cluttered setting that overwhelms the rest of the production.

There is no excuse to stay on campus while an opera as moving as Aida is showing. Aida conveys love, anger and sadness in a way no other form of entertainment can. Take a date, take a friend, take a parent or even go alone. Opera is something that everybody can - and deserves to - appreciate. Operas like Aida make Houston the great arts city it is, and that can be appreciated by anybody.

---