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AÏDA
AIDA
Amonasro and Aida - Verdi's father-daughter duet
AMONASRO:
"Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate,
Le fresche valli, i nostri templi d'ôr."

You shall see once more the perfumed forests,
the cool valleys and our golden temples.

 

 

 

 

 

"O patria mia" - Elena Zelenskaya as Aida

 

 

Ramfis, the High Priest"Celeste Aida" - Radames [Richard Margison]The Pharoh, King of Egypt [Dean Elzinga]
The Nile Scene - Aida and Radames Amneris pleads for the life of Radames, but the High Priest will not listen.

 

The Tomb Scene - Richard Margison and Elena Zelenskaya
 

"O terra, addio; addio, valle di pianti...
Sogno di guadio che in dolor svanì.
A noi si schiude il ciel e l'alme erranti
Volano al raggio dell'eterno di."


O earth, farewell; farewell vale of tears...
dream of joy which fades away in sorrow.
Heaven opens to us and our wandering souls
fly to the light of eternal day.

 

 

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CAPTIONS
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Composer Giuseppe Verdi includes father-daughter duets in many of his operas, nearly always evoking feelings of extreme tenderness. And in the Nile Scene, the Ethiopian king, Amonasro and his daughter Aida start out along those lines. But it quickly turns into something else - a power game - as Amonasro twists and manipulates Aida to get her to do what he wants: trick her lover, the Egyptian general Radames, into revealing military secrets.
[baritone Haijing Fu with soprano Elena Zelenskaya]

During the extended second part of their duet, Aida intersperses phrases along the lines of "Oh horror! What are you asking? No! Never!" and "Pity! Father, have pity!" as Amonasro paints verbal pictures of terror: "Rivers of blood engulf the cities of the conquered. Do you see?... the dead arise, crying 'Through you our homeland dies!'" and "A dreadful phantom from among the shades appears before us. Tremble!... Its fleshless arms are raised above your head - it is your mother! She is cursing you..." and a final cry: "You are not my daughter!"
 

second row
"O patria mia" is Aida's famous aria of longing for her homeland, which she fears she will never see again. Deceptively simple on its surface, it is a challenge for the soprano to negotiate the range of emotion, while executing the musical demands.
[soprano Elena Zelenskaya]

To hear the finest examples in the recorded legacy, try any of a handful of sopranos from The Golden Age [mid-20th century] or in the 1960s, the great American diva, Leontyne Price.

 
When the phrase "grand opera" is used, Aida is certainly one of the first that comes to mind. Although set against a spectacular backdrop, the drama being played out is very much on a human scale. The conflicts between love and duty are standard operatic fare - nothing groundbreaking here - but the story itself is concerned with very intimate relationships among the principal characters.

There are some interesting undercurrents - a commentary on political power, with a figurehead king and a high priest who seems to make all the decisions - and there is the illusion of freedom, or lack of it, in the byplay between the Egyptian pharoh's daughter, Amneris, and her slave, Aida, who is actually a princess in her own right, back home in Ethiopia.

Aida, a princess in her own country, is enslaved to the Egyptian princess, Amneris
block - top left
Ramfis, High Priest, is the power behind the throne. The Pharoh may have the more elaborate costume, but the High Priest has much more interesting music.
[baritone Hao Jiang Tian]		 block - top middle
Radames is chosen to be the supreme general of the Egyptian army, an honor promising riches and power. But in the aria "Celeste Aida," his thoughts are of his lover, the slave girl, Aida. [tenor Richard Margison]		 block - top right
The King of Egypt, resplendent (and nearly immobile) in his highly symbolic costume.
[bass Dean Elzinga]
block - lower left
Aida and Radames in the Nile Scene. Confessing their desire to run away together, Aida tricks him into betraying his army. Overheard by the High Priestess Amneris - herself in love with Radames - he will be arrested and tried for treason.
[tenor Richard Margison and soprano Elena Zelenskaya]		 block - lower right
Princess Amneris pleads with the High Priest Ramfis to spare Radames. One of the only characters in the opera who is not confused about his devotion to duty - there will be no mercy. [mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti with bass-baritone Hao Jiang Tian]
bottom
The Tomb Scene - Radames is sentenced to death in an airless tomb. Aida, guessing his punishment, hides in the tomb to share in his death. After a brief macho outburst by Radames in an attempt to dislodge the "fatal stone" that seals them in below, the two sing a graceful farewell to life on earth, while the High Priestess and a small chorus above the tomb chant invocations to the mighty god Ptah, begging for peace. The music, the light, and the air in the tomb all simultaneously fade away to nothing, bringing the opera to a close.
[tenor Richard Margison and soprano Elena Zelenskaya]
 

 

 

BEHIND THE SCENES
THE HEROIC TENOR
Radames, vincitor. The Triumphal Scene. The phrase dramatic tenor usually refers to the particular vocal color and strength of an individual's tenor sound, with singers having a particular size and weight of voice singing a lot of roles that need a big voice pushed out over a big orchestra: Calaf, Canio, Samson, Manrico, Otello and Radames are the usual suspects, here, before moving into the realm of the Heldentenor.

Richard Margison, here rehearsing and playing Radames, is in that category. Many a promising career has been ruined by offers of these roles - usually made to a tenor who is tall, dark and handsome. If the tenor is unable to say "no" to this "casting with the eyes," he can push the voice too far, too soon, and burn out.
Radames, the victorious General of the Egyptian Army, is carried onstage in a chariot - note the tops of the heads of the guards at the bottom of the photograph.

 

Richard Margison rehearses with his Aïda, Elena Zelenskaya.

 In rehearsal: Richard Margison and Elena Zelenskaya, Radames and Aida.
 
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San Diego Opera presents
AIDA by Giuseppe Verdi
May 2001
Conductor Edoardo Müller
Director Andrew Sinclair
Choreographer John Malashock
Set Design Michael Yeargan
Costume Design Peter J. Hall
Aida Elena Zelenskaya
Radames Richard Margison
Amneris Marianne Cornetti
Amonasro Haijing Fu
King of Egypt Dean Elzinga
Ramfis Hao Jiang Tian

 

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