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| Scenes from the Aida performance at the Katara Cultural Village Amphitheatre on Thursday |
A stunning success” was the overwhelming response by members of the packed audience to last Thursday’s opening performance at Katara Cultural Village Amphitheatre of Guiseppe Verdi’s opera Aida.
One of the most-performed operas worldwide, tickets for both performances of the fabulous show were sold out before it was even officially advertised, and on the first night frustrated opera enthusiasts walked the queues waiting to enter the amphitheatre, hoping to purchase any spare tickets.
Commissioned in 1871 by the Khedive of Egypt, Aida is set in the ancient Old Kingdom of Egypt. With an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, it tells, in four acts, the tragic story of the doomed love affair between the enslaved Ethiopian princess Aida and an Egyptian military commander Radames, who in turn is loved by the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris.
In the final act Radames is tried and sentenced to be buried alive, and Aida chooses to share his fate and joins him in the burial vault.
Thursday’s performance was a truly multi-national effort, with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra providing the music, conducted by Verdi specialist Pier Giorgio Morandi, and two choirs of 80 singers plus a corps de ballet from Hungary. That is in addition to the 35 actors and eight renowned Verdi singers.
In contrast to the original 19th century set designs for Aida, with huge and elaborate constructions of what looked like most of the great temple at Karnak, the designer Igor Mitorai chose to present a simple and austere set of rectangular panels with a heavily textured coppery patinated finish, and pylons to either side.
As the performance progressed panels slid horizontally to form new enclosures on the stage, revealing more of the raking backstage area with constantly changing elements, statues and - a special feature of this production - very large sculpted heads. The most breathtakingly spectacular moments were in the victory parade in the second act, and in the final acts where two giant heads formed the vault where Radames and Aida prepare to die, and two white doves, representing their souls, were released and flew up to perch on the top of the set.
The use of naked flame was a recurring theme, with gas jets through the stage floor, candles carried by members of the cast and on giant head-borne dishes. The lighting subtly complemented the dominant colour themes of the production - browns, oranges and off-white, with effective blue lighting at points.
The stage area of the Katara amphitheatre comfortably accommodated more than 100 members of the cast, leaving room for the ballet performers at the front.
Outstanding performances were by soprano Lucrezia Garcia playing Aida, tenor Jorge De Leon playing her troubled lover Radames, and mezzosoprano Ekaterina Gubanova taking the part of Amneris, the princess whose hopeless passion is not returned by Radames.
The opera is sung throughout in Italian, but sub-titles in Arabic and English were projected on either side of the set to help the audience follow the plot, although the English was at times a little odd – ‘I now perforce dissemble’ is a random example.
Aida was the first opera ever to be presented in Qatar, with a single performance a decade ago taking place in a football stadium! It started almost two hours late, and heavy showers of rain dispersed most of the audience before the end. Qatar has come a long way since then. Thursday’s performance started on time and the audience enjoyed comfortable evening temperatures. The noisy and obtrusive photographer pack which so often mars musical performances in Doha was, thankfully, banned, and apart from occasional aircraft noise overhead there were no interruptions and the audience was able to fully appreciate the performance, which ended with a standing ovation.
Artistic Director Dr Emad Amrallah Sultan commented: “‘Aida was selected for many reasons as our first opera to be presented in Qatar. First performed in 1871 in Cairo, it remains the most familiar operatic creation within our region.
“January 2013 will also mark the commencement of the bicentenary celebrations of both Wagner and Verdi. Katara’s participation in these celebrations is the presentation of one of the most celebrated Verdi operas. Katara’s aim was to present a unique production and we therefore selected world class artists and a magnificent cast to embrace the splendid set designed by Igor Mitoraj.”
There will be a repeat performance of the opera today.