Aida / La Traviata

Starring: Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Chiara Original UK Premiere: 1985 Dvd Release: 3rd February, 2003 Number Of Discs: 2 Format: Box set, PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: English, French, German

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Aida is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, which tells the story of Aida, an Ethiopian princess captured into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her, his loyalty to the Pharaoh & his love for the Pharaohs daughter. The opera is in four acts, with text by Ghislanzoni. The action takes place in Egypt during the reign of the Pharaohs. Ismael Pacha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera, paying him 80,000 francs. It originally was planned to premier with the opening of the Suez Canal but was not finished in time. It was first produced at Cairo in the new Grand Opera house on December 24, 1871 to great acclaim & continues to be a favorite standard in the operatic repertoire. Aida is also a musical in two acts with music by Elton John ; lyrics by Tim Rice ; book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls & David Henry Hwang. First produced on Broadway in 2000. The musical is loosely based on the opera. Amneris, Daughter of the King, mezzo-soprano. Posters Of Aida

La Traviata is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. Its text by Francesco Maria Piave is based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, La dame aux Camelias & it was first produced in Venice in 1853. The title means literally The Woman who Strayed, or perhaps more poetically The Lost One. Violetta Valery, famed courtesan, thows a party at her Parisian abode. A late arrival to the party is Gaston, a count, who has brought with him his friend, Alfredo Germont, who has longed for a year to meet Violetta. Alfredo, upon introduction to Violetta, expresses his concern for her failing health & later declares his love for her. Violetta rejects him but gives him a camelia, telling him to return when the flower has wilted. After the guests leave, Violetta contemplates the possibility of a real relationship with true love but finally rejects the notion. She needs to be free to live life, night & day, from one pleasure to another. Posters Of La Traviata

Aida: La Scala went all-out for this 1986 production of Aida, the grandest of grand operas, with a strong cast and, most important for a video recording, a larger-than-life staging. The Triumph Scene in Act 2 is by no means this Aidas only attraction, but it is the part that makes the strongest & most lasting impression, & is the visual & musical climax of the production. On par with the visuals is Lorin Maazels first-class performance with the outstanding La Scala chorus & orchestra. The soloists have a variety of strengths that outweigh a few small weaknesses. Luciano Pavarotti sings one of his signature roles in superb voice, but his weight problems are visually evident & detract from his impact as the dashing hero Radames. Maria Chiara has moments of vocal imperfection but gives a dramatically compelling performance. Ghena Dimitrova sings powerfully & the supporting cast is excellent throughout. , Joe McLellan

La Traviata: Performances of La Traviata stand or fall to an unusual extent on their principal soprano; the first thing that needs saying about this Glyndebourne performance is that Marie McLaughlin has all of the attributes needed for a role that is fundamentally a virtuoso one, no matter how emotionally involving it is as well. The point about Violetta is that she is, with absolute authenticity, all of the things she becomes in the course of the opera, the febrile socialite & yearning love of Act 1, the quiet domesticated woman of Act 2 who sacrifices her love for Alfredo to precisely the family values he has talked her into espousing, the dying penitent of Act 3. Walter McNeil is an impressive poetic Alfredo in whose successful courtship we can believe. Brent Ellis is solidly powerful as his father Germont, the duet in which he talks Violetta into renouncing his son & comes to value what he is destroying is one of the high points here, as it should be. Bernard Haitink conducts impressively.

The Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, is one of the most famous living opera singers. Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy. His father, a gifted amateur singer, baked bread in Mussolini s army. Signor Pavarotti made his operatic debut on April 29, 1961, as Rodolfo in La Bohème, at the opera house in Reggio Emilia. This is his signature role. His American debut came in February 1965, in Lucia di Lammermoor with Joan Sutherland in Miami. However, his major breakthrough came on February 17, 1972, in a production of Donizettis La fille du regiment at New York s Metropolitan Opera, in which he drove the crowd into a frenzy with his nine effortless high Cs in the signature aria. He achieved a record 17 curtain calls. Signor Pavarotti became a household name through frequent television performances, such Rodolfo in the first Live from the Met telecast in March of 1977, which attracted one of the largest audiences ever for a televised opera. He has many Grammys & platinum & gold recordings to his credit. In the 1990s, Pavarotti became famous for his well-attended outdoor concerts. Posters Of Luciano Pavarotti

Editors Choice: Luciano Pavarotti, Pavarotti, La Scala, Verdi, Aida, San Francisco, Die Fledermaus, Royal Opera House, View DVDology

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