AIDA

Before describing the quality of this much-anticipated Aida, the most glamorous Verdi opera recording of the year (or many previous years), let me clear the runway for landing. Aida is as difficult to sing as Il trovatore, and everyone remembers Caruso’s famous quip about that opera: “All it takes is the four greatest singers in the world.” Aida demands the same four, a soprano, tenor, mezzo, and baritone with big, dramatic voices, authentic Verdi style, and the ability to communicate human pathos at the high pitch of tragedy. If a conjunction of stars ever produced the ideal Aida, it’s not preserved on modern recordings.One must approach the opera with compromise in mind, just as in the heyday of Milanov/ Björling, Callas/Tucker, Tebaldi/Bergonzi, Price/Vickers, Price/Domingo, and every other famous pairing. Nostalgia is a powerful force in opera appreciation, but every famed Aida on disc has weak links somewhere, even if we find this hard to admit when our favorite version is criticized. I don’t mean to lower the bar for this new release, only to set my own priorities. I want a great lead soprano and tenor, a conductor who is at least above average, and a first-rate orchestra. By that standard, this Aida comes enviably close to joining the established classics—or should one say frustratingly close?To start with the best, star tenor Jonas Kaufmann and conductor Antonio Pappano rise to the occasion almost without equivocation. It’s no secret that without Kaufmann’s presence, Warner would never have invested in a lavish studio recording. Our reigning tenor for spinto roles is so gifted that criticism is almost nullified. Radamès may have been a bread-and-butter role in the past, but many famous voices, including the Three Tenors, weren’t really suited to its weight and rigor except as aided by the microphone. Kaufmann’s voice has baritonal coloring, as is often pointed out, which gives it the necessary heft (it would be interesting to compare him with Ramón Vinay, who can be heard on at least two live recordings that unfortunately I don’t know).It’s also good news that Kaufmann has retained enough squillo in his upper range for the voice to ring out splendidly. He displays the thoughtfulness of interpretation we’ve come to expect from him. “Celeste Aida” is done with careful attention to every phrase, almost every note, ending with a real, unfaked diminuendo on the concluding high B♭. I’d also like to point out the tenderness of this Radamès, who dies as the most caressing of lovers. Kaufmann had already demonstrated in an album of Verdi arias (Sony) that he can handle all the major tenor roles, even if the lyricism of Alfredo is behind him; one anticipates a thrilling Otello one day.Pappano’s contribution rises to the same level of musicality; there’s nothing rote about his conducting, beginning with a ravishing Prelude that taxed my speakers with its huge dynamic range. It’s no longer news that he has completely revived the venerable Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, which plays exuberantly and with much better technique than one ever expected from Italian orchestras even in the near past. Sentimentally, it’s also touching to see Aida return to Rome, where in 1962 RCA made its acclaimed recording with Leontyne Price and Jon Vickers in superlative voice. Pappano fully grasps every aspect of the score, which as he points out is an intimate story placed in an epic context. The Santa Cecilia chorus matches any other I’ve heard on disc. Warner’s recording engineers have beautifully captured the color and sweep of Verdi’s orchestral writing, including the offstage choral and instrumental effects. The only glitch is that Pappano allows some slack playing in the act II Triumphal Scene, and the clarion trumpets in the march are curiously subdued.Where to go next? The rest of the cast can be described positively (some press reports tout it as the best cast available today) or not (after Kaufmann, none of the singers rivals the best from the past). Anja Harteros’s Aida could be appraised in both ways. She has all the notes and sufficient technique to be secure in the extremes of the heroic “Ritorna Vincitor!” contrasted with the high-flying delicacy of “O patria mia.” At the moment she’s one of the leading Verdi sopranos in Europe and a favorite partner of Kaufmann’s. But the voice has a narrow bore rather than generous amplitude, and Harteros tends to be emotionally cool. The fact that both Aida and Radamès are German is discouraging from the perspective of hearing Italian voices in the lead roles, but to be realistic, James Levine once told an interviewer that he knew as early as the mid-1980s that Italy had dried up as a source of great Verdi-Puccini singers.Russian mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk is the only lead singer who has performed her role onstage, and some critics have singled out her Amneris for special praise. Personally, her voice holds no individual appeal for me, and her Verdian style is only approximate. The act II confrontation scene with Harteros is hit-and-miss, with both singers playing it too safe to communicate high passion. Semenchuk is powerful vocally in the Trial Scene, and she gets tremendous support from Pappano, but I detect no particular poignancy or anguish from the character, just sheer volume. Having made some adjustments, I can’t seriously criticize either Harteros or Semenchuk, and overall they make a strong impression.So does French baritone Ludovic Tezier as Amonasro; the singer could be faulted for not being a true Verdi baritone along the lines of Robert Merrill and Leonard Warren, but that land is far behind us, and Tezier carries enough authority to be convincing. His act III confrontation with Aida on the banks of the Nile starts out too cautiously, yet the whole scene is well judged dramatically, building in excitement to Amonasro’s curse. As always Pappano makes the orchestra a major dramatic participant. The Ramfis of Erwin Schrott should have been better, considering his charisma as Don Giovanni. He’s curiously blank here and not special vocally.Every listener brings personal memories—and expectations—to a work as familiar as Aida. It’s probably a handicap to have a dozen previous versions stored somewhere in the back of your mind. That can’t be helped, however, so in the end I found myself waiting for Kaufmann’s entrances, when the emotional temperature, not to mention excellence, is raised considerably. (He also led the same principals in a concert version of Aida last February in Rome, right after the studio sessions were completed.) So much in this production is very good that when you add a nearly perfect Radamès, an undeniable spell is cast, which is what we want from Aida in the first place. Since this production involved the extra expense of using a studio, I suppose Warner is justified in spreading the opera out over three CDs when it could easily have fit on two.(Reprinted with permission from Fanfare magazine's archives)

For me, Aida is one of those perfectly composed works, alongside Don Giovanni and La Boheme, that rarely fail to please, even in so-called "mediocre" performances, as long as one is content to simply perform the music. Most of the great conductors have understood this, which is why we have so many wonderful recordings of it. Is there a "perfect" one? No, because everyone has their own idea of what that sounds like, and very seldom is there a consensus. Just to state up front, my personal ideal Aida would combine Price's Aida, Corelli's Radames, Zajick's Amneris, Cappuccilli's Amonasro, and Muti's orchestra and conducting. But on to the current recording.Warner Music has had the hype machine working for this release for several months now, which has typically devolved into controversy and criticism, mainly due to some casting choices. Now that it is out there for all to experience, I have to say that if there is any justice, this recording deserves to go down in history among the greats. First and foremost, there is Pappano's mastery of the whole enterprise. Ever since his symphonic Don Carlos, I have looked forward with interest to each of his releases and only occasionally have I been let down (I was underwhelmed by his Royal Opera Les Troyens, although not all of that had to do with the conducting), but Verdi has always been his greatest strength, and here he is conducting (one of) Verdi's greatest opera. I can't understate just how "right" so much of this music sounds, and he proves that structural clarity and accuracy, when allied with appropriate tempi, can be incredibly exciting in their own right. Only occasionally, such as in the triumphal march, does he fall slightly short of the electric thrills that Muti provides, but these instances are few and far between.Jonas Kaufmann, arguably the star of this recording and the first bone of contention among operaphiles, has an undeniable artistry and a voice that tends to be an acquired taste, not unlike Callas. And like Callas with Tosca, he has made me hear the role of Radames anew. Yes, he has the baritonal timbre, but it's not nearly as bothersome here as it was in his Butterfly recording or his broadcast of Faust from the Met. Not only that, but his high notes have more of a ring to them than previously heard. This makes me prefer him to Vickers, the other popular "baritenor" Radames, who tends to just tire me out. His "Celeste Aida," much maligned as "crooning", is beautifully phrased throughout and finally sounds like the tender love song it is.The next point of argument is the lead soprano, Anja Harteros. I say this as someone who loved Harteros in the Requiem and in just about any Strauss music she sings: I was totally prepared to hate her as Aida. Indeed, there are times when her treatment of the music is unusual, almost downright bizarre, but it is never less than beautiful, even when she is taxed by the sheer size of voice required by her. Her Nile Scene is something special, especially her duet with Radames, possibly the best I've heard. I am amazed that people have compared her unfavorably with Tebaldi who, at least on Karajan's recording, sounded tired, effortful, and almost constantly under pitch. Harteros also scores points with a very sincere, lived-in, straightforward characterization which ends up being very moving (and is also a trait shared by her two co-stars). Ekaterina Semenchuk presents an alluring, spoiled brat of an Amneris who is not a villain, but rather a character to be pitied. Her tone tends to be lean in the middle and lower range, which sometimes keeps her from belting out those chest tones, but her high notes are great and in Act 4, Scene 1 (my vote for one of the best things Verdi ever composed) she tears it up with the best of them.Tezier was a surprising choice for Amonasro, and he isn't bad and has worked on his Italian phrasing, but his voice often sounds dry and underpowered. In person, he is not looking well, and I hope he is taking care of himself. Schrott (sounding not at all like himself) and Spotti as Ramfis and the king, respectively, are great, but I almost wish they had switched roles. Eleonora Buratto as the Priestess sounds as though she could take over the big role any day now.Last but certainly not least, I have to mention the recorded sound, which is immediate, clear, yet very rich and warm with (finally!) enough room around the brass to keep them from sounding blatty (the one black mark on this ensemble's Rossini Stabat Mater). I am no fan of the typical marketing machine and would have nothing to lose by providing a negative review, but after owning (and, for the most part, loving) the Muti, Mehta, Karajan, Solti, and live Abbado recordings, I can say that this new one cheered my heart through and through and made me fall in love with this piece all over again.

クラシックは売れないらしく、オペラのスタジオ録音なんてお金がかかって少ないようだ。そんな中、新録音でアイーダが聴ける、なんてワクワクする。で、手に取って、この装丁のすばらしさ！指先にしっとりの紙質、黒地に濃いグレーのエジプト文字。伊独英仏の対訳などの書籍にＣＤ3枚が付録に付いている感じ。（1幕、2幕が1枚ずつ）　パッパーノの指揮は閃きがあってイタリアンな明るさで素晴らしい。Harterosというソプラノもよく通る声。今をときめくカウフマンは力強く輝かしいフォルテを聞かせてくれるが、アンサンブルではアモナズロ？かと思うような老け声。でも☆一つマイナスなのはそれではなく、合唱が締まらなくて盛り上がらないから。惜しいなぁ。

Beautifully recorded with real emotional impact, especially in the intimate and reflective sections. Harteros is a superb Aida with an excellent mix of vulnerability, defiance and passion. Pappano is a master at generating coherent operatic story telling.

Good reviews led me to buy this - worth every penny.

Beste Aida Einspielung sei Muti

Fantastic item