Reviews
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United ArtistsThree major Valley arts groups come together for the humongous opera production of AidaBy Betty Webb In the words of its stage director, Aida is humongous. The massive opera about a doomed Ethiopian princess and her Egyptian lover has been made even more spectacular by the collaboration of three Valley arts groups - Arizona Opera, Ballet Arizona and the Phoenix Symphony. "The set is monumental, humongous," says Bernard Uzan, the artistic director of L'Opera de Montreal, who designed the set and is Aida's stage director. "We've got seven different sets, we've got 40-foot-high walls, we've got big columns, we've got the statues, the Egyptian gods - we've got everything, including 170 people onstage at one time!" Such a massive production does not happen without intensive effort by hundreds of people, which is why Arizona Opera enlisted the help of the Phoenix Symphony and Ballet Arizona. The extra cost of the production is partially deferred by a grant from the Flinn Foundation. "Because we were interested in doing a series of collaborations, we applied for this grant several years ago," explains Monica Barrows of Arizona Opera. "Last year the grant helped us produce La Gioconda [SIC] with the symphony and the ballet, and this year it'll help us with Aida and Andrea Chenier [SIC], as well as it did our recent collaboration on Die Feldermaus [SIC]. "Most people don't realize it, but the bulk of operas do have ballet sequences in them. Those scenes are always the first to be cut because of costs. Thanks to the Flinn Foundation, we're able to put them back in." The Phoenix Symphony is happy to be making a return appearance with Arizona Opera. In fact, the orchestra usually grabs at the chance to work with other arts groups. "Opera is excellent musical literature, so the musicians love to play the work, " says Janet Nyquist, general manager of the Phoenix Symphony. "Even though the musicians have to load into buses and drive down to Tucson for the rehearsals and performance, it's something they always look forward to." Nyquist says that the orchestra collaborates whenever possible, such as with Ballet Arizona's recent production of The Nutcracker, and the upcoming Mother's Day concert with the Phoenix Boys Choir. "Collaboration is always good for the arts," she says. Ballet Arizona is big on collaborative projects, too. "The dancers love to see how the other art forms work and they enjoy dealing with different types of artists," says Maria Simonetti, ballet mistress of Ballet Arizona. One Expensive AidaCategory Production Trucks for sets, props, costumes Behind-the-scenes personnel Principal singers Supernumaries (non-singing extras) Scene changes Costume changes Source: Arizona Opera "Working this way is always a rugged time for them, though. They are in class here at the school all day, and then they must drive to Tucson for rehearsal, then drive back again that night so they can be ready for class the next morning. It takes a lot of dedication, but the excitement of collaboration makes it worth it." The dancers also get the chance to dance in an entirely different style. Aida, the story of an Ethiopian princess held captive by the pharaoh of Egypt, calls for a Middle Eastern exoticism ancient world also makes unusual demands on its singers. "People see all that Egyptian archaeology and statuary and they sometimes forget that the story is really a very intimate one about human beings and their relationships," says Priscilla Baskerville, the soprano who sings the title role. "Aida is a princess and one day might become queen, yet here she is,
living in Egypt as a slave to another princess. She is in a very difficult
position, and yet she has not only survived her captivity, she has found love.
Her story is very dramatic - and that is totally apart from the gorgeousness
of the Still, that operatic, musical and balletic gorgeousness costs piles of money. The average opera production costs around $300,000 but Barrows says Aida's cost will be roughly twice that. "We do save a little money by utilizing productions which other companies have used," she says. "For instance, Uzon's [SIC] set was used in Montreal and in several other U.S. productions. It just makes financial sense, because even with the Flinn Foundation grant, for one company to put together from scratch a production of this size - with singers, dancers, and a full symphony orchestra - would simply be cost-prohibitive."
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