Reviews
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Grand Arizona OperaResplendent Aida marches to victoryBy Kenneth LaFave The all-seeing eye of Horus has a lot to take in during the Arizona Opera production of Verdi's Aida. By the standards of this company, here is a Cecil B. DeMille Aida, lacking mammals but rife with towering statuary of Horus and his fellow Egyptian deities such as Isis, Osiris and Anubis; with bare-chested Egyptian warriors, white-clad priestesses and cowering slaves, with a hundred people singing and dancing the glory of Egypt's victory over Ethiopia. Staged by Bernard Uzan, with a set designed by Uzan and Claude Girard for Uzan's L'Opera de Montreal, the visuals of this Aida are resplendent with symbols of the gilded yet stifling power of ancient Egypt, making it the handsomest production in years from Arizona Opera as well as one of the most theatrically adept. That would be remarkable but incomplete were it not for some equally notable performances. Dramatic soprano Priscilla Baskerville sang the title role Sunday in Tucson with ravishing power. Baskerville commands a large, supple voice with ease and grandeur, evincing strength throughout a broad vocal range. She made dramatic impact with every note she sang and negotiated Verdi's angular writing - which frequently calls for leaps from high to low and back again - with velvety smoothness. Baskerville, an Arizona Opera newcomer, was at her dramatic zenith in scenes with company regular Theodore Lambrinos, whose sterling baritone carried the part of Amonasro, Aida's father. The two were attuned in terms of character as well as voice. Seldom has parental rage been as persuasively and sympathetically portrayed as when Lambrinos as Amonasro vilified Baskerville's Aida for what he perceived as her traitorous behavior. This was matched by Baskerville's tender and piteous response. Other principals were strong if not as consistent. Verdi must have hated the tenor for whom he wrote the role of Radames, the Egyptian captain betrothed to the Pharoah's daughter but in love with her slave. Otherwise, he wouldn't have placed the enormously challenging tenor aria Celeste Aida at the beginning of the opera, forcing the tenor to perform at top form without benefit of warming up onstage. In any case, Tonio Di Paolo, making his Arizona Opera debut, seemed strained during this famous love song, but loosened considerably later on, and sang the stratospheric part with ever-increasing power. As Amneris, mezzo-soprano Sandra Graham was strong lyrically, and the part has wonderful lyrical moments when Graham shone. She was also an exemplary actress, effectively portraying her character's tumult of jealousy and hurt. The role calls for dramatic vocal weight that Graham didn't always have, especially in duet with Baskerville. The chorus sang with a depth and resilience that has seldom, if ever been heard before from Arizona Opera. Willie Anthony Waters conducted, with the Phoenix Symphony in the pit, in a glowing musical account. The PS0 brass, augmented by five, had a field day with martial elements of the score. Members of Ballet Arizona, choreographed by Michael Uthoff, added terpsichorean takes on Egypt, though these were mostly swallowed up by the sheer size of the production.
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