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Verdi, Aida: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the English National Opera. Conductor: Gérard Korsten. London Coliseum, London. 25.10.2008 (JPr)

‘Orientalism’ refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, and can also refer to a sympathetic stance towards the region by a writer or other person. In the nineteenth century the two most important colonisers and therefore the major exporters of this Orientalism were Britain and France. This followed their mid-eighteenth century battle for supremacy over the Indian sub-continent and France’s subsequent interest in Egypt and the Middle East. In 1994 the late Edward Said claimed that Verdi’s Aida presents an ‘Orientalised Egypt’. It has been pointed out by Paul Robinson however, that if this is true it can only be so because Verdi considered his music of the Egyptians to be ‘European’ whilst that of the Ethiopians was somehow more ‘exotic’. Verdi apparently believed that ‘ Orientalism’ did not occur in Ghislanzoni’s libretto where he has Egypt tyrannising the Ethiopians.

In an interesting essay in the programme for the revival of the 2007 production by Jo Davies of Aida,  Lucy-Hughes Hallet’s interesting essay ‘Fearful Dreams of Egypt’ touched on this subject  as she described this  opera as‘the most spectacular and successful of all nineteenth-century Europe Egyptian fantasies …’. There is little room for counterargument in a review but hindsight is a wonderful thing and indeed the colonial pasts of many nations clearly do have things to apologise for but  Aida is not one of them though Madama Butterfly, might well be another matter! Verdi’s main driving force herei was the love story allied to the fact that he was both anti-clerical and a patriot. ‘Kitchen sink’ realism became a dramatic device only in the mid-twentieth century and all Verdi had available as outlet for his personal beliefs in his time, were his grand melodramas and sweeping stories.

So if we pare down Aida to the kernel of an authoritarian state where the priests have the last word to crush the will of individuals to love whoever they choose; then all we have is Don Carlos transferred to Egypt.  With Aida,  Verdi gives us a much more focussed and coherent work which is musically superior and without showy cabalettas. Jo Davies’s production for English National Opera is something that seems ideal for our ‘credit crunch’ times and is also very suitable for concentrating the mind on what appeared to matter most to Verdi in Aida. Against the backdrop of Zandra Rhodes’s designs, described in the publicity as – quite rightly – ‘extravagantly opulent’ I find that everything works very well and I, for one, really appreciated the gold ticker-tape entry of the turquoise elephant at the end of the ‘Triumphal March’. I reported on this production last year and much of what I wrote then about the sets and costumes still stands (see review). Moreover with the elements of pyramid shapes in the designs, particularly in the more intimate Acts III and IV, I also noticed a certain pre-planned geometry in the direction this time. It may not be that the singers just run to either end of the front of stage to sing,  but having been together are symbolically finishing off their own triangular shapes.

Clearly this production has divided critics and in fact Oslo - the other opera house in the original co-production with Houston - have pulled out from the agreement because their artistic director considers the staging not up to his ‘professional standards’. Oh dear!

The colours may seem gaudy, the costumes cumbersome and the cut-out sets rather pantomime-ish but it still gives ENO -  in their straitened circumstances - a sell-out evening of the pure ‘thud and blunder’ Verdi opera which is a pleasure to indulge in from time to time. Added to this is the joy gained from seeing an opera company (once seemingly on death row) get a reprieve by raising its artistic standards so marvellously. The orchestra now seems on a par with Covent Garden's and the coaching of both principals and chorus is improving with every opera staged. Much credit then,  must  be given to artistic director John Berry and to music director Edward Gardner for ENO’s revival.

Most of the principals from the 2007 performances returned and most were clearly more at ease with their roles than before and (only my imagination maybe) a little slimmer -  unlike the chorus in their gold skirts who seemed rather more mixed in sizes now when bare-chested. John Hudson was an ardent Radamès with a beautifully controlled high B flat at the end of his opening aria at ‘Build you a throne near to the sun!’ (in the late Edmund Tracey’s serviceable translation). Jane Dutton is an imperious Amneris spitting out venom for ‘Destroy them!’ at the start of the final act before softening for ‘I love him’ as she thinks of Radamès' plight. Matthew Best seemed bothered by having to hitch up his skirt too often but he used his dark tones to good effect as this revival's Ramfis - he was the only main newcomer to the cast. Sarah-Jane Davies was a potent High Priestess. My only concern was whether the dodderiness in the veteran Gwynne Howell’s voice was there to match Jo Davies’s idea of a Pharaoh in apparent decline.

Vocal honours went to Claire Rutter’s Aida who was even lighter-skinned than last year. Totally secure, her phasing was impeccable and appealing; the highlight was her very tenderly lyrical and touching Act III ‘Oh, skies of blue’. Together with John Hudson they sang a heart-wrenching farewell to life at the end of opera. Best of all was Iain Patterson’s Amonasro in full native-Ethiopian costume who was outstanding throughout and particularly in the savage fury of his Act II ‘Destroy us, you armies of Egypt!’

As an ensemble, the principals and chorus sang up a storm at the end of Act II and much of the evening’s success has to be due to Gérard Korsten conducting at the ENO for the first time. He never once over-looked the intimate moments but there was grandeur to his reading of Verdi’s imaginatively rich palette of colours that would not have been out of place in Verona.

My one concern is that  ENO's current success is drawing in a type of audience who will in times to come be re-educated about opera. The person sitting next to me asked me at the interval ‘Do they sing all the opera here in English? I didn’t realise that.’ And behind me I overheard after the interval ‘Do you want to know what happens next?’ the reply being ‘No don’t tell me, just let me find out.’ It confirms what the poet Thomas Gray wrote;  ‘Ignorance is bliss’!

Jim Pritchard

Pictures © Alastair Muir and Tristram Kenton

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