Aida

I was intrigued in seeing this production of Aida. The opera is one of my favourites and I wanted to see how an opera would sound in a space as big yet exposed in acoustic as the Royal Albert Hall(where I have performed many times). The performance was very interesting. It is not perfect, while not irritating as such the additional character of Amelia Edwards was unnecessary in my view, the mix of Victorian dress and ancient Egyptian garb is likely to confuse some people initially(me being one of them) and while not as inept as other productions I've seen the choreography for me seemed rather dull.

On the other hand, it is on the whole a feast visually. Raymond Gubbay and the opera itself are known for spectacle, and spectacle the performance has. The water fountains and fires are really striking to look at. The staging is mostly compelling, this is especially true of the final scene which is very movingly staged. The orchestral playing is superb, being rousing and full of pathos, the conducting is done with a firm and assured hand and the chorus sing very powerfully in the Grand March and the whole of Act 2 actually. The performances are wonderful, the standouts being Claire Rutter's moving and vocally breathtaking Aida and Liuba Sokulova's commanding and chocolate-toned(in voice) Amneris. Joseph Wolverton is a little stolid but sings with a heroic and unstrained ring, while Stanislav Schvets is a noble Ramfis and Ashley Holland terrifyingly ruthless as Amonasro. All in all, largely successful. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I have see more Aidas than I have had hot dinners so I was not particularly looking forward to this one. Many of the Aidas that I have seen were, like this one, arena or amphitheatre productions with an emphasis on spectacle. This production comes from the redoubtable Raymond Gubbay, who has proved over a period of many years that it is possible to stage unsubsidised opera profitably simply by giving the audience what they want.

This production comes from the Royal Albert Hall and is staged at ground level so most of the audience are looking down on it. Vertical sets would spoil the view so director Stephen Medcalf sets it in a 19th century architectural dig. A Victorian lady archaeologist is on stage throughout the opera. We are supposed to believe that her digging has stirred up ancient spirits or maybe the whole thing is taking place in her imagination. This framing device seems unnecessary to me but it did not interfere with the action.

Presumably the singers are wired for sound to enable them to perform effectively to an audience of 6000 people. The microphones are not visible and I found the sound very effective from the vantage point of my living room sofa although I have no idea what it was like live. Claire Rutter is an excellent Aida, particularly when she is singing softly. She has to sing O Patria Mia lying on the ground in order to give a good view to the audience above her. There is a solid Radames from American tenor Joseph Wolverton. Best of all is the chocolaty mezzo of Liuba Sokolova as Amneris. An Amneris as sexy as this does tend to undermine the plot. You wonder why Ramades does not just marry her, become king of Egypt and and send Aida back to Ethiopia. Sokolva gets to bathe in a sunken bath set in a hole in the middle of the Albert Hall floor. Bizarrely, though, she does it fully clothed. The lead singers here are not the ones that feature in newspaper reviews of this production so I don't know whether we are seeing the A- or B-team. Also, the papers suggest that the action is surrounded by video screens. Mercifully we are spared this in the film version.

The main disappointment of this production is the lack of spectacle. The ballet and the Grand March seem to consist of supernumeraries bobbing up and down. Choreography, such as it is, consists mainly of Busby Berkley effects for the benefit of those looking down. If there were any professional dancers in the company it was not evident. The Egyptian king and his high priest are dressed like Christian bishops, except that they seem to have condoms stuck to their chins. The Egyptian priests are dressed as monks with hoodies. This probably facilitates quick costume changes and disguises the fact that they are not singing.

The most successful scene is the finale. It is quite a feat to bury someone alive in the Albert Hall. Medcalf achieves this by having Ramades and Aida sitting above their tomb, smiling beatifically. Maybe they are already dead. Unusually, Amneris appears below them to deliver her sad goodbye. Tears were jerked.