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CHANDOS
O P E R A IN
ENGLISH
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Lebrecht Collection
CHAN 3074 BOOK.qxd
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
Aida
Opera in four acts
Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, after a scenario by Auguste Mariette
English version by Edmund Tracey
The Pharaoh, King of Egypt ..................................................................................Peter Rose bass
Amneris, his daughter ..............................................................Rosalind Plowright mezzo-soprano
Aida, an Ethiopian slave ..................................................................................Jane Eaglen soprano
Amonasro, King of Ethiopia, Aida’s father ............................................Gregory Yurisich baritone
Radames, Captain of the Guards ..................................................................Dennis O’Neill tenor
Ramfis, chief priest............................................................................................Alastair Miles bass
The High Priestess......................................................................................Susan Gritton soprano
A Messenger ........................................................................................................Alfred Boe tenor
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
Giuseppe Verdi
Gareth Hancock • Timothy Redmond assistant conductors
David Parry
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COMPACT DISC ONE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Time
Prelude
4:04
Act I (36:05)
Scene 1
‘Yes, Ethiopia once again has dared’
1:43
Ramfis, Radames
‘I pray that I be chosen’
1:04
‘Goddess Aida, fair as a vision’
3:33
Radames
‘Have you just heard a joyous tale’
2:38
Amneris, Radames
‘Aida!’
1:31
Radames, Amneris
‘Alas, I hear the cries of war’
2:00
Aida, Amneris, Radames
‘Grave is the cause’
3:10
Pharaoh, Messenger, Aida, Radames, Amneris
‘Now go forward noble army’
3:06
Pharaoh, Ramfis, Chorus, Aida, Radames, Amneris, Messenger
‘As victor then return!’
3:15
‘The sacred names of a father and lover’
0:49
‘Hear me, ye gods, pity my cry!’
2:42
Aida
4
Page
[p. 86]
13
14
15
[p. 86]
16
[p. 86]
[p. 86]
[p. 86]
17
[p. 87]
18
[p. 87]
19
[p. 88]
20
21
[p. 89]
22
[p. 90]
[p. 91]
[p. 91]
23
24
Scene 2
‘Almighty, almighty Phtha’
High Priestess, Priestesses, Ramfis, Priests
Sacred Dance of the Priestesses
‘The gods have shown you favour’
Ramfis, Priests
‘Great Godhead we petition thee’
Ramfis, Radames, Priests, Priestesses
Act II (39:34)
Scene 1
‘We hear the hymns and cheering’
Slave-girls, Amneris
Dance of the Young Moorish Slaves
‘No more now!’
Amneris
‘Now the battle is over your people suffer’
‘Tremble! I know your secret…’
Amneris, Aida
‘But look with pity on my distress…’
Aida, Amneris
‘Now go forward noble army’
Chorus, Amneris, Aida
‘Hear me, ye gods, pity my cry!’
Aida
5
Time
Page
3:11
[p. 91]
2:00
1:18
[p. 92]
[p. 92]
4:04
[p. 92]
2:54
[p. 93]
2:16
0:49
[p. 94]
[p. 94]
4:03
1:35
[p. 94]
[p. 95]
1:57
[p. 95]
1:26
[p. 96]
1:23
[p. 96]
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COMPACT DISC ONE
Time
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Page
Scene 2
‘Glory to Isis, goddess fair’
3:27 [p. 97]
Populace, Priests
Trumpet Fanfare
1:45 [p. 97]
Ballabile
1:55 [p. 97]
‘Glorious warrior Radames’
2:10 [p. 97]
Populace, Priests
‘Valiant pride of your country’
1:38 [p. 98]
Pharaoh, Radames
‘Worship and glory to all the gods on high’
1:39 [p. 98]
Ramfis, Priests, Aida, Amneris, Amonasro, Pharaoh
‘As you see, I am wearing the colours of my King’
4:53 [p. 99]
Amonasro, Aida, Slave-girls, Prisoners, Ramfis, Priests,
Amneris, Populace, Radames
‘O King, by holy Isis’
2:39 [p. 100]
Radames, Pharaoh, Amneris, Priests, Populace, Famfis
‘Glory to Isis, goddess fair’
3:05 [p. 101]
Pharaoh, Populace, Slave-girls, Prisoners, Ramfis, Priests,
Aida, Radames, Amneris, Amonasro
TT 79:52
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
6
Time
Act III (30:24)
‘Thou art to great Osiris’
Chorus, High Priestess
‘Come to the shrine of Isis’
Ramfis, Amneris, Chorus
‘Soon Radames will come!’
‘Oh, skies of blue’
Aida
‘I come, full of concern’
‘Once again you will see our lofty forests’
Amonasro, Aida
‘No more my daughter’
Amonasro, Aida
‘Father… the Egyptians… have not… enslaved me…’
Aida, Amonasro
‘At last I see you, my sweet Aida…’
‘Your people rise again, arming for battle…’
Radames, Aida
‘We’d leave this white oppressive heat’
Aida, Radames
‘Ah no! We’ll leave here!’
Radames, Aida, Amonasro
‘You! Amonasro! You! The King?’
Radames, Aida, Amonasro
‘We’re betrayed!’
Amneris, Aida, Amonasro, Radames, Ramfis
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Page
2:01 [p. 103]
1:59 [p. 103]
2:33 [p. 103]
4:00 [p. 103]
1:09 [p. 104]
3:42 [p. 104]
0:34 [p. 106]
2:29 [p. 106]
1:21 [p. 106]
1:42 [p. 106]
4:24 [p. 107]
2:00 [p. 108]
1:30 [p. 109]
1:00 [p. 109]
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Time
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Act IV (31:27)
Scene 1
‘My hated rival has escaped me’
Amneris
‘Soon all the priests will gather here’
Amneris, Radames
‘Ah! You must live’
‘Who will save you, wretched madman’
Amneris, Radames
‘Alas! I feel I’m dying…’
Amneris, Ramfis, Priests
‘Spirit of Isis on us all descending!’
Ramfis, Priests, Amneris
‘Radames! Radames! Radames!’
Ramfis, Priests, Amneris
‘Priests of Isis: you’re guilty of murder!’
Amneris, Ramfis, Priests
Scene 2
‘The fatal cover’s now in place’
Radames, Aida
‘My heart foretold this horrifying sentence’
Aida, Radames
‘Almighty Phtha’
Priestesses, Priests, Aida, Radames, Chorus, Amneris
3:01 [p. 110]
2:18 [p. 110]
2:48 [p. 111]
1:47 [p. 112]
2:13 [p. 112]
1:53 [p. 112]
4:15 [p. 113]
2:33 [p. 114]
2:26 [p. 114]
3:01 [p. 115]
5:12 [p. 115]
TT 62:00
The extended version of the ballet music, written for Paris,
is not included on this recording.
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Page
Clive Barda/PAL
CHAN 3074 BOOK.qxd
The Royal Opera’s production of Aida
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Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
‘Tinta’ – colour is the neatest translation – is of
the essence in Verdi’s mature operas. Indeed it is
the defining quality of his operatic
composition. It is a quality he shares with
Britten, few others, and is one of the factors
that make both such great creators in the genre.
Each of Verdi’s works has a ‘tinta’ that is specific
to that piece and to none other. Nowhere is
that truer than of Aida (1871, composed for the
inception of the Cairo Opera House).
From the first bars of the Prelude (Verdi,
after the premiere, composed an Overture but
immediately discarded it as inferior to what he
had already written) we are wafted into the
mysterious, perfumed air of ancient Egypt and
its world of conflicting loyalties, priestly
intransigence and hot love. The chromatic
theme, introduced on the high strings, which
will become recognised as Aida’s motif, and
the slightly sinister, contrapuntally developed
idea that will come to be associated with the
Priests, set the scene for the drama that is
about to unfold. They, and all the melodic and
rhythmic material that is to follow, belong to
Aida alone in terms of feeling and colour.
Aida is unique in another way. Here, even
more than in Don Carlos written not long
before and disclosing a quite different ‘tinta’,
private conflicts take place within the context
of public politics and pomp. It is Verdi’s
genius immediately to introduce both
elements into his drama. In the very first scene
Egyptian general Radames becomes aware of a
conflict between his duty to his country and
his love for the Ethiopian slave-girl, Aida, and
Princess Amneris realises that Aida is a rival for
the love of Radames. Once an Ethiopian
invasion is announced, led by Aida’s father
Amonasro, and the Egyptian Pharaoh
proclaims Radames as leader in the fight
against the enemy, the private and public
confrontations are truly under way. They are
emphasised by Aida’s solo ‘Ritorna vincitor’
(‘As victor then return’) where her contrasting
emotions, paternal love for her father,
romantic love for Radames, are so unerringly
defined. It is another facet of Verdi’s skills that
so much of import and relevance to the
development of the plot can be delineated in
such a comparatively short period of music.
This scene also sets the pace and structure
of the opera as a whole. The pace is dictated
10
by events off-stage. On the public front, the
battle that Radames wins; on the private, the
intriguing of the jealous Amneris, which
culminates in the onstage confrontation with
Aida where, by devious means, she manages to
uncover Aida’s secret love for Radames. This
scene, in its turn, proves a prelude to the great
ceremonial scene of triumph which initially
gained Aida its fame. It has everything: choral
magnificence, inspiriting dances, bags of local
colour in the eruption of the famous
‘Egyptian’ trumpets, and other instrumental
devices leading to Radames’s triumphal entry,
then the appearance of the Ethiopian
prisoners. There, suddenly, we are back with
private matters. Amonasro whispers to his
daughter Aida not to reveal his true status as
Ethiopian ruler; then he describes his defeat in
battle and appeals for clemency. Aida backs up
her father’s plea; the Priests vigorously dissent.
All this is timed in masterly fashion by
Verdi. So is the huge ensemble that follows, in
which the composer displays his ability to
combine complex solo lines against a choral
background, culminating in a touching solo
moment from Aida. The Egyptian king then
bestows on Radames his daughter Amneris’s
hand as reward for his victory.
After the grandiloquence of this scene at the
gates of Thebes, the last two acts are enacted
in more confined circumstances and consist to
a large extent of duets for the four principals.
They also confirm that, while the characters of
Aida, Radames and Amonasro are hardly
changed by extreme circumstances, that of
Amneris considerably alters. These series of
duets find Verdi at his most inspired. They are
supplemented by two solo passages, in which
Aida and Amneris respectively dig deep into
their emotional states. They demonstrate how
unerringly Verdi makes them reveal their inner
selves and motivations.
Act III begins with another stroke of
compositional mastery. Against a background
of gently swaying music depicting the Nile,
and an off-stage chorus, Amneris and Ramphis
disembark from a boat and enter a temple to
pray. Aida comes out of the shadows and sings
the romanza, ‘O patria mia’ (‘Oh, dearest
home’), a late and inspired addition to the
score, which depicts her longing for her
homeland in a fluid combination of recitative
and aria, the restless accompaniment
illustrating her troubled yet reflective state of
mind. Quite apart from that, it is a wonderful
opportunity for a lyric-dramatic soprano to
display her wares in terms of a long line and
tonal inflections.
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The next scene with her father once more
unobtrusively combines passages of parlando
with lyrical outbursts. Verdi is by now
completely free from the formal restraints
imposed by Italian opera before his time
which limited his outlook in his early works.
Solos are now at the service of the needs of the
drama, not the singer, yet in a sense they
demand almost more of the interpreters than
the old style. As Amonasro plays on Aida’s
thoughts of love for her man and her fidelity
to her country, he painfully makes her aware
that duty and patriotism must come before
personal desires. The manner in which Verdi
moulds Amonasro’s determined purpose
against his daughter’s conflict of emotions
shows him at the height of his powers both in
terms of musical command and understanding
of his characters’ psyche.
In the next scene, which follows on with
unerring inevitability, Aida now plays on
Radames’s emotions as Amonasro had played
on hers. His display of ardour, showing him in
her powers, means that she can persuade him,
in a passage of the most seductively turned
music, starting ‘Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti’
(‘We’d leave this white oppressive heat), to
consider fleeing with her away from the
horrors of war to a land of pleasure and love.
To further persuade him, she even accuses him
of not loving her enough. In a passage of
renewed ardour, he agrees to her suggestion
and they sing an impassioned cabaletta (what
was once the fast, closing section of any set
piece). It ends abruptly when she extracts from
her lover the route his army will take. Verdi’s
ability arrestingly to develop the plot through
music is confirmed when Amonasro emerges
from the shadows in triumphant mood. Before
the three can flee, Amneris, who has, as we
have noted, been praying in the adjacent
temple, overhears them and Radames submits
to arrest in a cry of utter despair.
Some commentators believe that the opera
should have been named Amneris: in the hands
of an effective mezzo, the role is one to savour,
filled with a generous variety of music in
Verdi’s grandest manner. It culminates in the
first scene of Act IV, which virtually belongs to
the character. I have heard many a famous
interpreter bring down the house at its close,
a tribute as much to the composer’s superb
writing as to the singer’s gifts.
Although Radames has been condemned to
death, Amneris determines to save him
provided only that he will forsake Aida and
come to her arms. The extended arioso in
which she mulls over her decision is written
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with all Verdi’s care for matching word to
music. She calls for the imprisoned Radames
to be brought into her presence: indeed with
the single word ‘Guardie’ (‘Soldiers’), any
Amneris worth her salt can exert her complete
authority. There ensues yet another gripping
duologue. In a declamatory passage, similar for
mezzo and tenor, she begs Radames to defend
himself, he refuses defiantly declaring life
holds nothing more for him. Now in a heartrending lyrical passage ‘Ah! tu dei vivere’
(‘Ah! You must die’), Amneris declares her love
in impassioned tones. Once more he answers
her pleas in the negative, but only when she
reveals that Aida is still alive and he declares
his joy in that outcome, does Amneris lose her
cool as she explodes in jealous fury. This
marvellous duet is the very epitome of Grand
Opera: two characters stating their position,
usually from opposite sides of the stage, with a
complete conviction and with a psychological
as much as physical gap between them.
The scene of Radames’s trial before the
priests is perhaps the most original in the
whole opera. As the judgement begins
Amneris is heard anguishing in the
background. After a solemn prayer, they issue
a three-part condemnation asking him to
exculpate himself, each time a semitone
higher, a masterly touch from Verdi. He stays
silent, and each time Amneris offers an
evermore desperate cry. The Priests then give
their sentence: Radames is to be entombed
alive. All Amneris’s cries for mercy, as she
prowls up and down the stage, are ignored by
the implacable ministers of hate who repeat
their injunction ‘Traditor!’ (He shall die!’).
She ends by uttering a fearsome oath in their
direction: ‘Empia razza! Anatema su vuoi!’
(‘Evil vipers, may you all be accurs’d!’)
Whatever may have gone before, I have never
heard the whole scene fail to make its mark,
evidence enough of Verdi’s command, at this
mature stage of his career, over his material.
One wonders in the theatre whether the
finale may be anything but anti-climax. But
Verdi, the wise old bird, knows now what to
do: write a short, intimate scene of farewell to
the world that is the antithesis of what has
gone before. As Radames ponders on his love
for Aida, he spies what he thinks is a vision,
but turns out to be his beloved who has stolen,
unseen, into the vault to share his fate. Gone
are the grandeur and the wild changes of
passion; in their place is a refined, almost
otherworldly declaration of true love in
tripartite form. First comes Radames’s ‘Morir!
si pur e bella’ (‘To die! So pure and lovely!’), a
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plangent, dignified statement of his sorrow at
Aida’s impending death. As ever, Verdi has
thought himself unerringly into the feelings of
one of his principals. It is a passage of pure
lyrical beauty, ineffably sad too. Aida’s reply, so
ethereal in its shape, suggests that she is
already close to heaven.
Finally, accompanied by chanting from
above, a touch of sheer inspiration, the pair
bid farewell to the world in an arched, soaring
melody of extreme simplicity ‘O terra addio’
(‘Farewell, oh life’), which each sings in turn
and then together in unison. To add to the
intense sorrow of the end, Amneris is heard
and seen above, on her knees, imploring peace
for the souls of those below her.
Aida stands between the glories of the third
period of his operatic opus, including the
revised Simon Boccanegra, A Masked Ball,
The Force of Destiny and Don Carlos, and the
final period which arrived with the
Shakespearian masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff.
It retains the immense energy and wide
scope of its four predecessors (even if its
concept is not quite as original as that of
Don Carlos), while looking forward in some
part to the greater economy of the two final
operas. It most resembles, not surprisingly,
the flexibility, melodic breadth and dramatic
force of the Requiem, which followed three
years after Aida. Since the opera’s birth, the
work has retained its popularity without
faltering. If it is not performed quite as
frequently today as in the recent past, the
reason lies in the difficulty of casting the five
main roles and in the expense called for to
stage it effectively.
© 2002 Alan Blyth
Synopsis
The opera is set in Egypt under the Pharaohs.
The priests of the sacred gods, through their
ability to interpret the gods’ wishes, have
control of the government. Egypt and her
neighbour to the south, Ethiopia, have long
been at war; Ethiopian prisoners have regularly
been sold in the Egyptian slave markets.
The reigning Pharaoh has one child: an
unmarried daughter, Princess Amneris. Among
Amneris’ household she numbers an Ethiopian
slave of noble birth, Aida, unaware that this
slave is a daughter of the king of Ethiopia,
Amonasro. Amneris harbors an undeclared
passion for Radames, a nobleman and a rising
officer in the Royal Army. Radames, however,
has secretly fallen in love with Aida, who
returns his love.
14
return’, a cry in which Aida, in her confusion,
joins. 10 – 11 Left alone, however, Aida
reflects that she is torn between the
irreconcilable claims of her love for her father
and country, and her love for Radames. 12 She
prays to the Powers for pity.
Act I scene 2 is set in the temple of Vulcan
in Memphis. 13 – 14 Priests and priestesses
perform ritual dances and chant invocations to
Phtha. 15 Ramfis calls on General Radames to
gird on his sacred sword. 16 All entreat the
gods for an Egyptian victory.
Act II scene 1 is set in Princess Amneris’
private apartments. The Ethiopians have lost
the war. 17 – 18 Amneris and her household
are preparing for the triumphal celebrations.
19 She dismisses her court as Aida enters,
20 and expresses her sympathy for Aida on her
country’s defeat. Seeking to be sure of what
she already suspects Amneris informs Aida
falsely that Radames has been killed. 21 When
Aida cries out Amneris admits that she has
lied. Aida explodes with joy. Amneris is now
certain. She taunts Aida that she too loves
Radames, and she is Pharaoh’s daughter while
Aida is a slave. Aida faces up to her and starts
to say that she also is a princess, but catches
herself in time and keeps this secret. 22 She
begs for the Princess’s sympathy. 23 The
COMPACT DISC ONE
Act I scene 1. After a brief prelude ( 1 ), the
curtain rises on a Hall in the Pharaoh’s Palace
in Memphis, the capital of Egypt. 2 Radames
is discussing with Ramfis, the High Priest,
news of a fresh invasion by the Ethiopians.
Ramfis says that the Goddess has appointed a
General and he is on his way to inform
Pharaoh. 3 – 4 Left to himself Radames
reflects that if he were to be chosen, his dream
could come true. He would lead the victorious
army and as victor would have everything he
could want. 5 Princess Amneris breaks in on
his reverie. 6 – 7 His evident arousal at the
entrance of Aida, alerts Amneris that her
suspicion is correct that Aida is the object of
his affections. Aida thinks only of her love for
Radames and the difficulty of her position as a
slave.
8 Pharaoh enters, calling together his
nobles and people, and the priesthood. A
messenger is admitted bringing urgent news:
the Ethiopians are marching on Thebes. They
are led by their King, Amonasro (Aida, aside,
‘My father!’). Pharaoh announces that Isis has
elected Radames as General, 9 and leads his
people in a battle hymn, finishing with an
exhortation to Radames: ‘As victor then
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acclamations of the victory parade are heard
and the Princess orders Aida to follow her and
see how she can compete with her. 24 Aida
renews her prayers to the gods for pity.
Act II scene 2. The Triumph Scene
An avenue in Thebes before the temple of
Ammon. 25 The population has turned out to
celebrate the triumph. Pharaoh enters and
takes his place on the throne surrounded by
his court, and Amneris takes her place beside
him with Aida at her feet. 26 – 27 The armies
march past and trophies of war are exhibited
by dancing girls. Images of the gods are
displayed, 28 and finally Radames enters
under a canopy carried by twelve officers.
29 Pharaoh hails the general as saviour of
the Fatherland, and offers him any reward he
wishes. General Radames requests that the
prisoners of war should be led in. 30 As they
appear Aida recognizes her father and hastens
to embrace him. He secretly begs her not to
give him away. Pharaoh calls him forward to
identify himself. 31 He says simply that he is
Aida’s father, he fought for his king and
country, they were beaten and the King killed.
He looks to Pharoah for clemency. The
people, deeply moved, join in his plea.
32 Radames claims Pharaoh’s promise of
reward: let the Ethiopian captives and slaves be
freed. Ramphis speaks out against this: the
Ethiopians will start another war. Radames
points out that now King Amonasro is dead,
this is unlikely: Ramphis contents himself with
requesting that Aida, the Princess’s favoured
slave should remain as a hostage, with her
father. That agreed, Pharoah announces that
his reward for Radames is the hand of Princess
Amneris in marriage – with her, he shall one
day reign over Egypt. 33 The act ends in
almost universal rejoicing.
COMPACT DISC TWO
Act III is set before a temple of Isis on the
banks of the Nile by moonlight. 1 The chant
of priestesses is heard inside. 2 Ramfis has
brought Princess Amneris here to spend the
night before her marriage in sacred dedication.
3 – 4 Aida comes to keep a farewell
rendezvous with Radames, 5 but she is
interrupted by her father. He knows that she is
waiting for Radames, that she loves him but
Pharaoh’s daughter is her rival. Aida admits
she is in Amneris’ power, but her father points
out that Aida could conquer her, regain her
country, her love. 6 The Egyptians are
planning an offensive, and he wants to stop
them. The best way is to anticipate their line
16
of attack. ‘Who could ever discover?’ she asks.
‘Aida.’ ‘I! No, no, ah, no!’ Then Egyptian
cohorts will descend on Ethiopia. 7 – 8 He
repudiates her as his daughter; she is simply a
slave of the Pharaohs. She begs his forgiveness,
but Radames is heard approaching. Amonasro
withdraws to a place where he can hear their
conversation.
9 General Radames bounds in, immensely
happy to see Aida again. She stops him in his
tracks. He is promised to Princess Amneris.
10 He replies that after he has won the next
war, he will obtain Pharaoh’s agreement to
marrying. Aida asks who will protect her from
the Princess, 11 but points out that there is
another way – to flee with her to Ethiopia,
where they can live and love together. When
he refuses, she points out that the axe will now
fall on her and her father. 12 He gives in and
they plan their escape. But how will they avoid
the Egyptian army? Radames tells Aida where
the troops will be stationed and Amonasro
appears. The General asks him who he is.
‘Aida’s father, Ethiopia’s King’. 13 Only now
does Radames understand the connection
between Aida and King Amonasro, and that
he is totally dishonoured. 14 Princess Amneris,
who has emerged from the temple and
observed this scene, denounces him as a
traitor. Amonasro draws a knife on the
Princess but is intercepted by Radames who
tells him to escape and he drags Aida with
him. The General gives himself up to the
priests.
Act IV scene 1. Outside the Great Hall of
Judgement. Radames is to stand trial for
treason. 15 – 16 The Princess has him
brought to her, but he believes Aida is dead
and no longer wishes to live. 17 – 19 Amneris
tells him that King Amonasro is dead but Aida
has disappeared. He refuses to renounce his
love for Aida or to defend himself, 20 – 21 and
is led off to face his priestly judges, who judge
him guilty and condemn him to be entombed
under the altar of the god. 22 Amneris curses
them as they emerge.
Act IV scene 2. The stage is divided into
two. Above, the Temple of Vulcan, below, an
underground vault. 23 The last stone has been
laid above Radames’ head. 24 As he prepares
for death, he realises that he is not alone. Aida
has hidden in the vault with the intention of
dying with him. 25 Priestesses chant in the
distance. As the two lovers fade into an
ecstatic daze, it is left to the Princess to plead
for peace.
© 2002 Peter Moores
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Jane Eaglen has one of the most formidable
reputations in the opera world today. Born in
Lincoln, she studied at the Royal Northern
College of Music, where she was supported by
a Peter Moores Foundation scholarship, and
went on to sing at English National Opera.
Enjoying unique success in the contrasting
roles of Norma and Brünnhilde, hers is a
dramatic soprano of outstanding achievement
earning spectacular reviews worldwide. Her
performances as Brünnhilde (Siegfried ) for the
Lyric Opera of Chicago and her subsequent
complete Ring there, with Riccardo Muti at
La Scala, Milan, in San Francisco and in
Vienna gained equally fine reviews. Previous
portrayals of Brünnhilde include those for
Opera Pacific and Scottish Opera. Her success
as Norma for Scottish Opera (in a production
supported by the Peter Moores Foundation)
was followed by critically acclaimed
performances at the Ravenna Festival with
Muti, for Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, at
the Bastille, Paris, and Scottish Opera.
Other memorable operatic performances
include Isolde in Seattle, repeated at the
Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera of
Chicago to formidable reviews; her role debut
as La Gioconda for the Lyric Opera of
Chicago; Donna Anna (Don Giovanni ) at the
Metropolitan Opera – previously performed
for Vienna State Opera and in Los Angeles,
Munich and Bologna; the title role in
Turandot at The Royal Opera, the
Metropolitan Opera with Pavarotti, in Vienna,
Madrid, Seattle, Bologna and at the Bastille,
Paris; Amelia (Un ballo in maschera) in
Bologna and at the Bastille; the title role in
Tosca for English National Opera, the Teatro
Colon in Buenos Aires, and in concert with
the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; and the
title role in Ariadne auf Naxos for English
National Opera.
Equally at home on the concert platform
engagements include Verdi’s Requiem with
Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra; Mahler’s Eighth
Symphony with Klaus Tennstedt; Act III of
Götterdämmerung with Bernard Haitink and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Nabucco in
Ravenna with Riccardo Muti; Gurrelieder with
Claudio Abbado at the Salzburg and
Edinburgh Festivals; Norma in concert at the
Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen and at Carnegie
Hall; and Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Daniel
Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra.
Jane Eaglen’s recordings include a disc of
arias by Wagner and Bellini, another with arias
18
by Strauss and Mozart, Mahler’s Eighth
Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony,
Bruckner’s Mass, Norma, Medea in Corinto for
Opera Rara, and, for Chandos/Peter Moores
Foundation the award-winning Tosca, with a
further recording of Turandot. She also features
on the soundtrack of the film adaptation of
Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
Santuzza (Berlin Staatsoper). For English
National Opera she has performed in Otello,
Mary Stuart, The Turn of the Screw (for which
she won an Olivier Award) and Puccini’s
The Cloak. Recordings include Mendelssohn’s
Elijah (on Chandos), Offenbach’s Les Contes
d’Hoffmann, Verdi’s Il trovatore, and
(for Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation)
Mary Stuart and Otello.
Rosalind Plowright has enjoyed an immensely
distinguished career. She studied at the Royal
Northern College of Music and the London
Opera centre, winning both Peter Moores
Foundation and Peter Stuyvesant scholarships.
Her 1984 recording of Leonora (Il trovatore)
with Placido Domingo, conducted by Carlo
Maria Giulini, was nominated for a Grammy
Award. That same year she made her debut
with the Royal Opera as Maddalena (Andrea
Chénier) with Jose Carreras, and Aida with
Luciano Pavarotti.
Rosalind Plowright has performed at most
of the world’s great opera houses, in roles such
as Suor Angelica (La Scala, Milan), Leonora in
Il trovatore (Verona), Stiffelio (La Fenice,
Venice), Ariadne and Medea (Opéra Bastille,
Paris), Medea (The Royal Opera), Desdemona
and Amelia (Vienna State Opera), Madama
Butterfly (Houston Grand Opera), and
Born in Wales of Irish and Welsh parents,
Dennis O’Neill is one of the world’s leading
tenors and a specialist in the works of Verdi.
He has enjoyed a long association with the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where
his many roles have included Rodolfo
(La Bohème), the Duke (Rigoletto), Pinkerton
(Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di
Lammermoor), Macduff (Macbeth), Gustavo
(Un ballo in maschera), Foresto (Attila), Otello,
Don Carlos, Radames (Aida), Aroldo (in
concert), Carlo (Giovanna d’Arco), and Jacopo
(I due Foscari).
For the Metropolitan Opera he has
appeared as Alfredo (La traviata), Radames
(Aida), Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) and
Canio (Pagliacci). Other North American
engagements have included Chicago Lyric
Opera, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver
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Opera and concerts with the Philadelphia,
Cleveland, Montreal, and Ottawa
Symphonies, and for the Cincinnati Festival.
A frequent guest at the Bayerische Staatsoper,
Munich, his debut in Un ballo in maschera was
followed by a new production of Il trovatore,
as well as Der Rosenkavalier, Tosca, Lucia di
Lammermoor, Simon Boccanegra, Aida and the
title role in Otello. Elsewhere he has visited the
opera houses of Vienna, Berlin, Bonn,
Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, Nice, Zurich,
Paris, Oslo, Brussels, Barcelona, Lisbon,
Oviedo, the Arena di Verona and Turin, as
well as English National Opera. He enjoys a
close relationship with Welsh National Opera.
Dennis O’Neill is also a busy concert artist
and has sung throughout Europe. His own
television series for the BBC were enormously
popular, and he has subsequently completed a
television film on Caruso. Recordings for
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation are
Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Tosca,
La Bohème, Il trovatore, and a disc of Great
Operatic Arias. Dennis O’Neill was awarded
the CBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours list.
earned him tremendous critical praise.
Acclaimed performances include Nabucco at the
Bregenz Festival, with The Royal Opera and in
Geneva; the title role in Rigoletto in Israel,
Australia and Athens; the title role in Simon
Boccanegra, and Escamillo (Carmen) for English
National Opera; the title role Falstaff in
Australia; Germont Père (La traviata) for San
Francisco Opera, Australian Opera, and in TelAviv and Geneva; Iago (Otello) with Placido
Domingo for the Los Angeles Opera and in
Brisbane; Amonasro (Aida), Stankar (Stiffelio),
Scarpia (Tosca), the four villains (Les Contes
d’Hoffmann), and the title role in Guillaume Tell
for The Royal Opera. Other roles include
Sharpless (Madam Butterfly) for Australian
Opera; Balstrode (Peter Grimes) at the Châtelet
in Paris and at La Monnaie, Brussels; and his
debut with the Berlin Staatsoper as Alfio
(Cavalleria rusticana) and Tonio (Pagliacci).
Gregory Yurisich has made many
international appearances on the concert
platform including Mahler’s Eighth Symphony
at the Edinburgh Festival; Alberich (Siegfried) in
concert, and Salieri (Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart
and Salieri) and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
for the Australian ABC Television network.
Recordings include Leporello (Don
Giovanni), a solo disc devoted to the songs of
Gregory Yurisich is now recognised as one of
the world’s leading baritones. His recent
portrayals of the great Verdi repertory have
20
Peter Dawson, and, for Chandos/Peter Moores
Foundation, Scarpia (Tosca) and Sharpless
(Madam Butterfly).
performed his debut UK recital with Roger
Vignoles. Other recordings include, for
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation Faust,
La Bohème and a recital disc of Great Operatic
Arias, and for Opera Rara Medea in Corinto,
Orazi e Curiazi, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra,
Ricciardo e Zoraide and Maria regina
d’Inghilterra.
Alastair Miles, internationally recognised as
one of this country’s leading singers, has sung
at the Metropolitan Opera House (Giorgio in
I Puritani and Raimondo in Lucia di
Lammermoor); Opera National de ParisBastille (Raimondo); Vienna (La Juive and
Giorgio); San Francisco (Giorgio, Raimondo,
and Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia);
Amsterdam (Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro);
Teatro Real, Madrid (Philip II in Don Carlos);
English National Opera (the title role in
Mephistopheles, Zaccaria in Nabucco); and the
Royal Opera, Covent Garden (Elmiro in
Otello and Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette).
His first Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) was a great
success, with previous Verdian portrayals
earning equal acclaim.
His highly successful concert career takes
him worldwide to perform with leading
conductors such as Giulini, Mehta, Muti,
Chung, Masur, Gergiev, Gardiner and the
world’s most prestigious orchestras, whilst his
discography currently stands at an impressive
forty-two including Elijah, Verdi’s Requiem
and Handel’s Saul and Agrippina. In 2000 he
Born in Canterbury, Peter Rose read music at
the University of East Anglia and studied with
Ellis Keeler at the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama. In 1985 he won the Kathleen
Ferrier Memorial Scholarship and in 1986 the
Glyndebourne John Christie Award. He made
his operatic debut in 1986 as the
Commendatore with Glyndebourne Festival
Opera in Hong Kong. He was principal bass
with Welsh National Opera between 1986 and
1989, and made his Royal Opera House debut
as Rochefort (Anna Bolena) with Dame Joan
Sutherland.
Roles include: Ramfis (Aida), Fasolt
(Das Rheingold ) Cadmus/Somnus (Semele),
Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), King Marke
(Tristan und Isolde) and the Commendatore at
the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden;
Gessler (Guillaume Tell ), the Commendatore
and Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) in San
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Francisco; Kečal (The Bartered Bride) for
Chicago Lyric Opera; Ramfis, Daland and
Ochs at the Metropolitan Opera; and other
roles for the Vienna Staatsoper, the Deutsche
Staatsoper, the Hamburg State Opera, in
Amsterdam, and at the Istanbul and Bregenz
Festivals.
Concert engagements include Beethoven 9
with Giulini; Mozart’s Requiem with Daniel
Barenboim and Zubin Mehta; Mahler 8 with
Tilson Thomas at the Albert Hall; Verdi’s
Requiem at the Barbican; La Damnation de
Faust with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
and Sir Georg Solti; Ravel’s L’Enfant et les
sortilèges & L’Heure espagnole with the
Cleveland Orchestra under Boulez; and
Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the New York
Philharmonic under Masur. Recordings
include Le nozze di Figaro, The Seven Deadly
Sins, Salome, Un ballo in maschera, and, for
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation, Ernani,
The Barber of Seville, Tosca, and a further
recording of Lucia di Lammermoor.
appears regularly in recital throughout Britain,
and her extensive concert experience has taken
her to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the
Vienna Konzerthaus, and Philharmonie in
Berlin.
Susan Gritton’s operatic roles have included
Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Zerlina
(Don Giovanni) for Glyndebourne Festival and
Touring Operas; Governess (The Turn of the
Screw) and Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia) under
Steuart Bedford at Snape Maltings; Tiny (Paul
Bunyan) for The Royal Opera; Belinda (Dido
and Aeneas) at the Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin;
Fulvia in Handel’s Ezio with the King’s
Consort at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées,
Paris; Marzelline (Fidelio) with Rome Opera;
and Romilda (Xerxes) with the Bayerische
Staatsoper. At English National Opera, where
she is a Company Principal, her roles include
Atalanta (Xerxes), Constance (The Carmelites),
Pamina (The Magic Flute), Drusilla (The
Coronation of Poppea), Nannetta (Falstaff ), and
the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen.
Recordings for Chandos include Paul
Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Sir John in Love,
Mendelssohn’s St Paul, a number of discs of
Haydn’s Masses, and a further recording of
Falstaff (for Chandos/Peter Moores
Foundation).
Winner of the 1994 Kathleen Ferrier
Memorial Prize, Susan Gritton read Botany at
Oxford and London Universities before taking
up a career in singing. In 1994 she made her
solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall. She
22
Born in Lancashire, Alfred Boe began his
music studies after a national tour with the
D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1994. He
studied with Neil Mackie at the Royal College
of Music, and finished his studies at the
National Opera Studio in London.
Oratorio performances include Puccini’s
Messa di Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Verdi’s
Requiem, and Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle
and Stabat Mater. Operatic performances
include Roderigo in (Otello) and the title role
in Britten’s Albert Herring.
In 1999 he returned to the D’Oyly Carte to
sing Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore at the
Royal Festival Hall and also sang Ernesto in
Don Pasquale with Scottish Opera-Go-Round.
Other roles include Roderigo (Otello) for
La Monnaie in Brussels, Ferrando and NankiPoo (Mikado) for Grange Park Opera, and
Rodolfo (La Bohème) for Glyndebourne
Touring Opera. He is one of the first singers
to be given a place on the Vilar Young Artists
Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent
Garden.
former Czechoslovakia, Canada and
Australasia. Early conducting experience with
the BBC led to a wider involvement with his
own singers and in turn to the establishment
of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir. Early
recordings resulted in the Choir’s long-term
involvement with Opera Rara for which it has
made over thirty recordings. The Choir is
enjoying a growing reputation with further
work from the BBC and international
recording companies. For Chandos the
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir has participated in
numerous recordings in the acclaimed Opera
in English series sponsored by the Peter
Moores Foundation.
From auspicious beginnings in 1945, when it
was established by Walter Legge primarily as a
recording orchestra, the Philharmonia
Orchestra went on to attract some of the
twentieth century’s greatest conductors.
Associated most closely with the Orchestra
have been Otto Klemperer (first Principal
Conductor), Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti,
Giuseppe Sinopoli, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir
Andrew Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy and EsaPekka Salonen. Under current Principal
Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi and with
Leonard Slatkin as Principal Guest Conductor
Geoffrey Mitchell’s singing career has
encompassed a remarkably wide repertoire
from early to contemporary music and has
taken him to Scandinavia, Germany, the
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the Orchestra has consolidated its central
position in British musical life, not only in
London where it is Resident Orchestra at the
Royal Festival Hall, but also in the wider
community through regional residencies.
The Orchestra has received several major
awards and won critical acclaim for its vitality
and unique warmth of sound. It has been
praised as well for its innovative programming,
at the heart of which is a commitment to
performing and commissioning new music by
the world’s leading living composers, among
them its current Visiting Composer James
MacMillan.
The Orchestra tours frequently abroad and
is the world’s most recorded symphony
orchestra with well over 1000 releases to its
credit. Among these are, for Opera Rara,
several discs of operatic arias as well as eleven
complete operas (Donizetti’s Ugo, conte di
Parigi, Ne m’oubliez pas, Emilia di Liverpool,
L’assedio di Calais, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra and
Maria de Rudenz, Meyerbeer’s Dinorah, Mayr’s
Medea in Corinto, Mercadante’s Orazi e
Curiazi, Pacini’s Maria, regina d’Inghilterra and
Rossini’s Otello). The Orchestra has recorded
numerous discs for Chandos including, in the
Opera in English series sponsored by the Peter
Moores Foundation, The Elixir of Love, Faust,
La bohème, the award-winning Tosca and six
solo recital albums of operatic arias (with
Bruce Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny and John
Tomlinson.)
David Parry studied with Sergiu Celibidache
and began his career as Sir John Pritchard’s
assistant. He made his debut with English
Music Theatre, then became a staff conductor
at Städtische Bühnen Dortmund and at Opera
North. He was Music Director of Opera 80
from 1983 to 1987 and since 1992 has been
the founding Music Director of Almeida
Opera.
He works extensively in both opera and
concert, nationally and internationally. He has
conducted several productions at English
National Opera and appears regularly with the
Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1996 he made his
debut at the Glyndebourne Festival with Così
fan tutte, where in 1998 he conducted the
world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Flight.
He is a frequent visitor to Spain where he
has given concerts with most of the major
Spanish orchestras. He conducted the Spanish
premiere of Peter Grimes in Madrid and in
1996 the first Spanish production of The
Rake’s Progress. He has appeared in Germany,
24
Sweden, The Netherlands, at the Pesaro
Festival in Italy, the Hong Kong International
Festival, in Japan with a tour of Carmen and
in Mexico with the UNAM Symphony
Orchestra. Recent new productions he has
conducted include Fidelio at the New Zealand
Festival, Maria Stuarda at Theater Basel and
Lucia di Lammermoor at New Israeli Opera.
His work in the recording studio includes
the BBC Television production of Marschner’s
Der Vampyr and twenty-one complete opera
recordings under the sponsorship of the Peter
Moores Foundation. Among these are
numerous discs for the Opera Rara label
which have won several awards, including the
Belgian Prix Cecilia for Donizetti’s Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra. For Chandos he has conducted
seven recordings of operatic arias (with Bruce
Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny, John Tomlinson
and Della Jones), as well as Faust,
Don Giovanni, Ernani, Don Pasquale, The
Elixir of Love, La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana,
Pagliacci, Il trovatore the award-winning Tosca
and highlights from Der Rosenkavalier, all in
association with the Peter Moores Foundation.
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Page 26
PETER MOORES, CBE, DL
Bill Cooper/PMF
Peter Moores was born in Lancashire, the son of Sir John Moores, founder of the giant
Littlewoods mail order, chain store and football pools group. He was educated at Eton and
Christ Church, Oxford, where he read modern languages – he was already fluent in German
and Italian. It was opera, however, which was his great love. He had worked at Glyndebourne
Festival Opera before going up to university, and after Oxford he became a production
student at the Vienna State Opera, combining this with a three-year course at the Vienna
Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
By the end of his third year at the Academy Moores had produced the Vienna premiere of
Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, had worked as Assistant Producer
at the San Carlo Opera House, Naples, the Geneva Festival and
Rome Opera, and seemed set for a successful operatic career. At
this point he received a letter from his father asking him to
come home as he was needed in the firm. Family loyalty being
paramount, he returned to Liverpool.
From 1981 to 1983 he was a Governor of the BBC, and a
Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1978 until 1985; from 1988
to 1992 he was a director of Scottish Opera. He received the
Gold Medal of the Italian Republic in 1974, an Honorary MA
from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1975, and was made an
Honorary Member of the Royal Northern College of Music in
1985. In May 1992 he became Deputy Lieutenant of
Lancashire, and in the New Year’s Honours List for 1991, he
was made a CBE for his charitable services to the Arts.
Peter Moores, CBE, DL
26
Whilst still in his early twenties, Peter Moores had started giving financial support to various
young artists, several of whom – Joan Sutherland, Colin Davis and the late Geraint Evans
amongst them – were to become world-famous. In 1964 he set aside a substantial part of his
inheritance to establish the Peter Moores Foundation, a charity designed to support those
causes dear to his heart: to make music and the arts more accessible to more people; to give
encouragement to the young and to improve race relations.
PETER MOORES FOUNDATION
In the field of music, the main areas supported by the Peter Moores Foundation are:
the recording of operas from the core repertory sung in English translation; the recording
or staging of rare Italian opera from the bel canto era of the early nineteenth century
(repertoire which would otherwise only be accessible to scholars); the nurturing of
promising young opera singers; new operatic work.
The Foundation awards scholarships annually to students and post-graduates for furthering
their vocal studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. In addition, project awards may be
given to facilitate language tuition in the appropriate country, attendance at masterclasses or
summer courses, specialised repertoire study with an acknowledged expert in the field, or
post-graduate performance training.
The Foundation encourages new operatic work by contributing to recordings, the
publication of scores and stage productions.
Since 1964 the Foundation has supported the recording of more than forty operas, many of
these sung in English, in translation. It has always been Peter Moores’s belief that to enjoy opera
to the full, there must be no language barrier, particularly for newcomers and particularly in the
popular repertoire – hence the Opera in English series launched with Chandos in 1995. This
includes many of the English language recordings funded by the Foundation in the 1970s and
1980s, and is now the largest recorded collection of operas sung in English.
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Page 28
Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
“Tinta” – am ehesten wohl als “Farbe” zu
übersetzen – ist in den Opern aus Giuseppe
Verdis Reifezeit von grundlegender
Wichtigkeit. Sie macht sogar die bestimmende
Komponente seiner Opernwerke aus. Es
handelt sich dabei um eine Eigenschaft, die er
außer mit Benjamin Britten mit sonst kaum
jemandem teilt, und sie ist einer jener
entscheidenden Faktoren, die beide
Komponisten zu den großen Künstlern ihres
Genres machen. Jedes Werk Verdis besitzt eine
ihm und nur ihm allein eigene “tinta”, und das
trifft auch und ganz besonders auf die 1871
zur Eröffnung des Opernhauses von Kairo
komponierte Oper Aida zu.
Schon die ersten Takte des Vorspiels (eine
nach der Premiere komponierte Ouvertüre
verwarf Verdi gleich wieder, weil er sie dem
ursprünglichen Material gegenüber für
minderwertig hielt) entführen den Zuhörer in
die geheimnisvollen, von Duft
durchdrungenen Lüfte des Alten Ägyptens,
und in seine Welt voller widersprüchlicher
Loyalitäten, unnachgiebiger Priester und
leidenschaftlicher Liebe. Ein chromatisches
Thema, das zuerst in den hohen Streichern
auftaucht und sich bald als das Motiv Aidas zu
erkennen geben wird, und eine recht
unheimliche, kontrapunktisch entwickelte
Idee, die im weiteren Verlauf mit den Priestern
einhergeht, leiten das bevorstehende Drama
ein. Was Gefühl und Farbe anbelangt, gehören
diese Elemente genauso wie das später noch
folgende melodische und rhythmische
Material ganz und gar der Aida.
Auch in einer anderen Beziehung ist Aida
einmalig. Mehr noch als sogar im Don Carlos,
der nicht lange zuvor entstanden war und eine
völlig andere “tinta” aufweist, werden hier
private Konflikte im höchst öffentlichen
Rahmen von Politik und Pomp ausgetragen.
Es macht Verdis Genie aus, daß er diese
beiden Elemente unmittelbar in sein Drama
einzubauen vermag. Schon in der ersten Szene
wird sich der ägyptische General Radames des
Konfliktes zwischen der Pflicht seinem Land
gegenüber und seiner Liebe zu der
äthiopischen Sklavin Aida bewußt, und der
Fürstin Amneris wird klar, daß Aida bezüglich
der Liebe Radames’ eine Rivalin darstellt. Als
dann eine Invasion äthiopischer Truppen, mit
Aidas Vater Amonasro an der Spitze, bekannt
28
wird und der ägyptische König Radames zum
Anführer im Kampf gegen den Feind ernennt,
sind sowohl die privaten als auch die
öffentlichen Konfrontationen nicht mehr
aufzuhalten. Diese werden in Aidas Arie “As
victor then return” unterstrichen, in der sie
ihren widersprüchlichen Emotionen, ihrer
kindlichen Liebe zum Vater und ihrer
romantischen Liebe zu Radames so
unzweifelhaften Ausdruck verleiht. Auch
hierbei handelt es sich um eine Facette von
Verdis Können, nämlich die Fähigkeit,
innerhalb eines so verhältnismäßig kurzen
musikalischen Zeitraums so viel zu zeichnen,
was von Belang und der Entwicklung der
Handlung zuträglich ist.
Diese Szene bestimmt obendrein den
Spannungsaufbau und die Struktur der
gesamten Oper. Der Spannungsaufbau wird
durch Ereignisse, die nicht auf der Bühne
stattfinden, bestimmt, und zwar im
öffentlichen Rahmen durch die von Radames
gewonnene Schlacht und im Privaten durch
die Intrigen der eifersüchtigen Amneris. Diese
erreichen – auf der Bühne – in der
Auseinandersetzung mit Aida ihren
Höhepunkt, in der es Amneris gelingt, auf
heimtückische Art und Weise Aidas heimliche
Liebe zu Radames aufzudecken. Diese Szene
dient wiederum als Vorspiel zu der großen,
feierlichen Triumphszene, der die Oper ihren
ursprünglichen Ruhm verdankt. Es fehlt ihr an
nichts: Chorische Pracht, beseelte Tänze, jede
Menge Kolorit beim Einsatz der berühmten
“ägyptischen” Trompeten und anderer
instrumentaler Kunstgriffe, die in Radames’
sieghaftem Auftritt und dem Erscheinen der
äthiopischen Gefangenen gipfeln. Und dann
sind wir ganz plötzlich wieder in der privaten
Welt. Amonasro flüstert seiner Tochter Aida
zu, sie möge seine wahre Identität als
äthiopischer Herrscher nicht preisgeben; dann
beschreibt er seine Niederlage im Kampf und
bittet um Milde. Aida stimmt in die Bitte
ihres Vaters ein, die aber von den Priestern
nachdrücklich abgelehnt wird.
Die gesamte Abfolge wird von Verdi auf
meisterhafte Art und Weise abgestimmt,
ebenso wie das darauffolgende Ensemble, in
dem der Komponist seine Fähigkeit unter
Beweis stellt, komplizierte Sololinien mit
einem chorischen Hintergrund zu
kombinieren, und welches er zu einem
ergreifenden Solo für Aida anwachsen läßt.
Der ägyptische König schenkt dann Radames
als Belohnung für dessen Sieg die Hand seiner
Tochter Amneris.
Nach der Großartigkeit dieser vor den
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Toren Thebens spielenden Szene finden die
letzten beiden Akte im intimeren Rahmen
statt und bestehen weitgehend aus Duetten für
die vier Hauptpersonen. Sie zeigen auch, daß,
während Aida, Radames und Amonasro sich
von den extremen Umständen kaum
beeinflußt zeigen, der Charakter der Amneris
doch wesentliche Veränderungen aufweist. Bei
dieser Folge von Duetten ist Verdi inspirierter
denn je. Hinzu kommen zwei Solopassagen, in
denen Aida und Amneris ihre jeweiligen
Emotionen tief ergründen. Hier zeigt sich, wie
unbeirrbar Verdi seine Protagonistinnen ihr
Innenleben und ihre Motivationen preisgeben
läßt.
Der Dritte Akt beginnt mit einem weiteren
Beispiel kompositorischer Meisterschaft. Vor
dem Hintergrund sanft wogender Musik, die
den Nil schildert, sowie eines Chores hinter
der Bühne steigen Amneris und Ramphis aus
einem Boot und betreten einen Tempel, um zu
beten. Aida tritt aus den Schatten und singt
die Romanze “Oh, dearest home”, eine späte
und inspirierte Hinzufügung zu der Partitur,
die in einer fließenden Kombination aus
Rezitativ und Arie die Sehnsucht nach ihrer
Heimat darstellt, wobei die unruhige
Begleitung ihre unglückliche und doch
nachdenkliche Gemütsverfassung
widerspiegelt. Außerdem bietet die Musik
jeder jugendlich-dramatischen Sopranistin eine
wunderbare Gelegenheit, ihr Können zu
zeigen, besonders was lange Linien und
klangliche Inflexionen anbelangt.
Die darauffolgende Szene mit ihrem Vater
verbindet wieder Parlando-Stellen mit
lyrischen Ausbrüchen. Verdi hat sich von den
formalen Beschränkungen der italienischen
Oper vor seiner Zeit, die den Blickwinkel des
Komponisten in seinen frühen Werken noch
einschränkten, inzwischen vollkommen
befreit. Soloszenen stehen nun im Dienste der
Dramatik und nicht des Sängers, jedoch sind
die Forderungen an die Interpreten in
gewissem Sinne fast größer als beim alten Stil.
Aidas Liebe zu Radames gegen ihre
Vaterlandstreue ausspielend, macht Amonasro
ihr schmerzlich bewußt, daß Pflicht und
Patriotismus über persönlichen Wünschen zu
stehen haben. Die Art und Weise, wie Verdi
Amonasros entschlossene Absicht vor dem
Hintergrund des Gefühlskonflikts seiner
Tochter gestaltet, zeigt ihn auf dem Gipfel
seines Könnens, sowohl was seine musikalische
Souveränität anbelangt, als auch bezüglich des
Verständnisses für die Psyche seiner
Charaktere.
In der nächsten Szene, die sich zwangsläufig
30
unmittelbar anschließt, benutzt Aida nun
Radames’ Gefühle in der gleichen Art und
Weise, wie Amonasro es mit den ihren getan
hatte. Durch seine offenkundige Leidenschaft
wird ihr klar, daß Radames in ihrer Macht
steht, so daß es ihr gelingt, ihn mit Hilfe
äußerst verführerischer Musik, beginnend mit
“We’d leave this white oppressive heat”, dazu
zu bringen, an eine gemeinsame Flucht fort
von den Greueln des Krieges in ein Land der
Freude und der Liebe zu denken. Um ihn
weiter zu überreden, wirft sie ihm sogar vor,
sie nicht genug zu lieben. In einer Passage von
erneuter Inbrunst geht er auf ihren Vorschlag
ein, und die beiden singen eine
leidenschaftliche Cabaletta (früher der schnelle
Schlußteil eines beliebigen Stückes). Die
Musik endet jäh, als sie ihrem Geliebten die
Route seiner Armee entlockt. Verdis Fähigkeit,
die Handlung auf atemberaubende Art und
Weise durch Musik weiterzuführen, bestätigt
sich wieder einmal, als Amonasro
triumphierend aus den Schatten tritt. Bevor
die drei fliehen können, hört sie Amneris, die,
wie wir ja wissen, im benachbarten Tempel
gebetet hat, und mit einem Schrei äußerster
Verzweiflung läßt sich Radames verhaften.
Es gibt Meinungen, die dahingehen, die
Oper hätte Amneris heißen müssen: wenn die
Partie mit einer fähigen Mezzosopranistin
besetzt ist, kann sie durchaus ausgekostet
werden, denn sie wird mit einer großzügigen
Vielfalt von Verdis prachtvollster Musik
bedacht. Deren Höhepunkt stellt die erste
Szene des Vierten Aktes dar, die fast
ausschließlich der Amneris gehört. Ich habe
manche berühmte Interpretin erlebt, die an
ihrem Schluß das Publikum zum Rasen
gebracht hat, was sowohl für das meisterhafte
Können des Komponisten als auch für die
Begabung der jeweiligen Sängerin spricht.
Radames wurde zwar zum Tode verurteilt,
doch Amneris ist entschlossen, ihn zu retten,
wenn er nur Aida aufgibt und sich stattdessen
in ihre Arme wirft. Das ausgedehnte Arioso, in
dem sie ihre Entscheidung erwägt, zeugt von
der Verdi eigenen Sorgfalt bezüglich der
Einheit von Text und Musik. Sie läßt den
eingekerkerten Radames zu sich bringen, und
jede Amneris, die etwas taugt, kann mit dem
einzigen Wort “Soldiers” ihre vollkommene
Autorität demonstrieren. Es folgt ein weiterer
fesselnder Dialog. In einer, für Mezzosopran
und Tenor ähnlichen, deklamatorischen
Passage fleht sie Radames an, sich zu
verteidigen, doch er weigert sich trotzig und
erklärt, das Leben habe ihm nichts mehr zu
bieten. Es folgt Musik von herzzerreißender
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Lyrik “Ah! You must live”, in der Amneris
voller Leidenschaft ihre Liebe gesteht.
Abermals verweigert sich Radames ihrem
Flehen, doch erst als sie verrät, daß Aida noch
am Leben ist, und er seiner Freude darüber
Ausdruck verleiht, gerät Amneris aus der
Fassung und explodiert voller Wut und
Eifersucht. Dieses fabelhafte Duett ist die
Große Oper schlechthin: Zwei Personen, die
ihre Standpunkte vertreten, meistens von
gegenüberliegenden Seiten der Bühne aus,
voller Überzeugung, und getrennt von einem
Abgrund, der sowohl psychologischer als auch
räumlicher Natur ist.
Die Szene, in der die Priester Radames den
Prozeß machen, ist vielleicht die einzigartigste
der ganzen Oper. Als die Urteilsverkündung
beginnt, hört man im Hintergrund Amneris’
angsterfülltes Flehen. Nach einem feierlichen
Gebet kündigen die Priester an, der
Angeklagte habe sich zu rechtfertigen, und
zwar nachdem jeder einzelne Teil einer
dreiteiligen Verurteilung ausgesprochen
worden ist – jedesmal ein Halbton höher, ein
meisterhafter Kunstgriff Verdis. Er schweigt
durchweg, und jedesmal gibt Amneris einen
noch verzweifelteren Schrei von sich. Dann
verkünden die Priester ihre Strafe: Radames
soll lebendig begraben werden. Alle Bitten um
Gnade, die Amneris ausstößt, während sie
kreuz und quer über die Bühne läuft, werden
von den unbeugsamen Ministern des Hasses
ignoriert, die nur immer wieder ihr Urteil
“He shall die!“ wiederholen. Schließlich äußert
Amneris einen fürchterlichen Fluch in ihre
Richtung: “Evil vipers, may you all be
accurs’d!” Egal, was vorhergegangen sein mag –
ich habe es noch nie erlebt, daß diese gesamte
Szene nicht ins Schwarze getroffen hat, was
wiederum belegt, in welchem Maße Verdi in
diesem reifen Stadium seiner Laufbahn sein
Material beherrschte.
Man fragt sich, ob das Finale nicht
zwangsläufig eine Enttäuschung sein muß.
Aber Verdi, klug wie Er ist, weiß genau was zu
tun ist: Er schreibt eine kurze, intime
Weltabschiedsszene, die eine Antithese zu
allem vorher Geschehenen darstellt. Während
Radames über seine Liebe zu Aida nachdenkt,
sieht er etwas, was er für eine Vision hält, die
sich aber als seine Geliebte entpuppt, welche
sich ungesehen in das Verlies geschlichen hat,
um sein Schicksal zu teilen. Fort sind die
Erhabenheit und die wilden
Wechselhaftigkeiten der Leidenschaft; an ihre
Stelle tritt eine reine, dieser Welt fast nicht
mehr zugehörige Liebeserklärung in
dreiteiliger Form. Zuerst singt Radames
32
“To die! So pure and lovely!”, einen klagenden,
würdevollen Ausdruck seiner Trauer über
Aidas bevorstehenden Tod. Verdi hat sich wie
immer unbeirrbar in die Gefühle einer seiner
Hauptpartien hineinversetzt. Es handelt sich
um eine Passage von reiner, lyrischer
Schönheit, die gleichzeitig unsäglich traurig
ist. Aidas Antwort, so ätherisch in ihrer Form,
läßt vermuten, daß sie dem Himmel bereits
nah ist.
Begleitet von Gesängen von oben
verabschiedet sich das Paar in einem Moment
der puren Inspiration von der Welt, und zwar
in einer bogenförmigen und emporstrebenden
Melodie von extremer Schlichtheit, “Farewell,
oh life”, die zunächst von den beiden einzeln
und dann gemeinsam im Unisono gesungen
wird. Um das intensive Leid am Schluß noch
zu steigern, hört und sieht man Amneris, wie
sie oben auf den Knien liegt und um Frieden
für die Seelen derjenigen im Kerker fleht.
Aida steht zwischen den Reichtümern der
dritten Periode in Verdis Opernschaffen, zu der
auch der überarbeitete Simon Boccanegra, Un
ballo in maschera, La forza del destino und Don
Carlos gehören, und der letzten Periode, die
von den Meisterwerken Shakespeares, Otello
und Falstaff bestimmt wurde. Aida behält die
gewaltige Energie und das breite Spektrum
ihrer vier Vorgängerinnen bei (wenngleich ihr
Konzept nicht ganz so einzigartig ist, wie das
des Don Carlos), nimmt gleichzeitig aber in
gewisser Weise die größere Ökonomie der
beiden letzten Opern vorweg. Am meisten
ähnelt sie jedoch (und das ist nicht weiter
verwunderlich) der Flexibilität, dem
melodischen Atem und der dramatischen Kraft
des drei Jahre später komponierten Requiems.
Seit ihrem Entstehen hat diese Oper nicht an
Popularität verloren. Wenn sie heutzutage nicht
mehr ganz so häufig aufgeführt wird, wie in
der jüngeren Vergangenheit, liegt dies an der
Schwierigkeit, die fünf Hauptrollen zu
besetzen, sowie an den für eine wirksame
Inszenierung notwendigen Kosten.
© 2002 Alan Blyth
Synopsis
Die Oper spielt in Ägypten während der Zeit
der Pharaonen. Die Priester der heiligen
Götter verfügen aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeit, die
Wünsche der Götter auszulegen, über die
Regierungsmacht. Ägypten und sein südlicher
Nachbar Äthiopien befinden sich seit langer
Zeit im Krieg miteinander; auf den
Sklavenmärkten Ägyptens wird regelmäßig mit
äthiopischen Gefangenen gehandelt.
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Der herrschende Pharao hat ein Kind, und
zwar eine unverheiratete Tochter, Prinzessin
Amneris. Zu Amneris‘ Haushalt gehört auch
eine äthiopische Sklavin von adliger Geburt,
namens Aida, wobei Amneris nicht weiß, daß
diese Sklavin Tochter des äthiopischen Königs
Amonasro ist. Amneris hegt eine
unausgesprochene Leidenschaft für Radames,
einen adligen und aufstrebenden Offizier im
Heer des Königs. Radames hat sich jedoch
heimlich in Aida verliebt, die seine Liebe
erwidert.
haben, was er sich nur wünschen könnte.
5 Prinzessin Amneris unterbricht seine
Träumereien. 6 – 7 Radames’ augenfällige
Erregung beim Auftritt Aidas unterstreicht
noch Amneris’ Annahme, daß seine
Zuneigung Aida gilt. Aida denkt nur an ihre
Liebe zu Radames und an die Schwierigkeiten,
die ihre Position als Sklavin mit sich bringt.
8 Der Pharao tritt ein und ruft seine
Adligen und sein Volk sowie die Priester
zusammen. Ein Bote mit dringenden
Nachrichten wird eingelassen: Die Äthiopier
marschieren auf Theben. Geführt werden sie
von ihrem König, Amonasro. (Aida zur Seite:
“My father!”) Der Pharao verkündet, Isis habe
Radames als General erwählt, 9 und führt
sein Volk in einer Kampfhymne, abschließend
mit der Ermahnung an Radames, er möge
“As victor then return” – ein Aufruf, in den
Aida in ihrer Verwirrtheit einstimmt.
10 – 11 Einmal allein reflektiert Aida jedoch
über die unvereinbaren Ansprüche ihrer Liebe
zu Vater und Heimat einerseits und der Liebe
zu Radames andererseits. Zwischen ihnen ist
sie völlig hin- und hergerissen, 12 und betet
um Mitleid.
Die 2. Szene des 1. Aktes spielt im
Vulkantempel zu Memphis. 13 – 14 Priester
und Priesterinnen tanzen rituelle Tänze und
COMPACT DISC ONE
1. Akt 1. Szene. Nach einem kurzen Vorspiel
( 1 ) hebt sich der Vorhang über einem Saal im
Palast des Pharaos in Memphis, der
Hauptstadt Ägyptens. 2 Radames spricht mit
Ramphis, dem Hohen Priester, über die
Nachricht eines neuen Übergriffs durch die
Äthiopier. Ramphis sagt, daß die Göttin einen
General ernannt hat und daß er selbst
unterwegs sei, um den Pharao von ihrer Wahl
zu unterrichten. 3 – 4 Allein gelassen denkt
Radames darüber nach, wie es die Erfüllung
seines Traumes bedeuten würde, sollte er der
Auserwählte sein. Er würde dann das
siegreiche Heer anführen und als Sieger alles
34
rufen mit ihren Gesängen die Gottheit Phtà
an. 15 Ramphis fordert General Radames auf,
sein heiliges Schwert anzulegen. 16 Alle flehen
die Götter um einen ägyptischen Sieg an.
Die 1. Szene des 2. Aktes spielt in Amneris’
privaten Gemächern. Die Äthiopier haben den
Krieg verloren. 17 – 18 Amneris und die
Mitglieder ihres Haushalts bereiten sich auf
die Feierlichkeiten anläßlich des Sieges vor.
19 – 20 Als Aida auftritt, entläßt Amneris ihr
Gefolge und äußert Anteilnahme ob der
Niederlage Äthiopiens. Um ihren Verdacht zu
bestätigen, teilt Amneris Aida fälschlicherweise
mit, Radames sei umgekommen. 21 Als Aida
aufschreit, gibt Amneris zu, gelogen zu haben.
Aidas Freudenausbruch gibt Amneris
Gewißheit. Sie verhöhnt Aida, indem sie ihr
zu bedenken gibt, daß sie Radames ebenfalls
liebe, aber die Tochter des Pharaos sei, Aida
dagegen lediglich eine Sklavin. Aida wehrt sich
und beginnt sogar zu sagen, daß sie selbst auch
eine Prinzessin sei, besinnt sich aber noch
rechtzeitig und behält dieses Geheimnis für
sich. 22 Sie bittet um das Mitgefühl der
Prinzessin. 23 Die Vorboten des Siegeszuges
ertönen, und die Prinzessin befiehlt Aida, ihr
zu folgen und zu sehen, ob sie sich mit ihr
messen kann. 24 Aida fleht die Götter erneut
um Erbarmen an.
2. Akt 2. Szene. Die Triumphszene
Eine breite Allee in Theben vor dem Tempel
des Ammon. 25 Die Bevölkerung hat sich
versammelt, um den Sieg zu feiern. Der
Pharao tritt auf und nimmt, umgeben von
seinem Gefolge, seinen Platz auf dem Thron
ein, während sich Amneris neben ihn setzt,
Aida zu ihren Füßen. 26 – 27 Die Armeen
ziehen vorbei, und tanzende Mädchen stellen
Kriegstrophäen zur Schau. Götterbilder
werden gezeigt, 28 und schließlich tritt
Radames unter einem von zwölf Offizieren
getragenen Baldachin auf.
29 Der Pharao grüßt den General als Retter
des Vaterlandes und bietet ihm jede
Belohnung, die er nur wünscht. General
Radames bittet darum, daß die
Kriegsgefangenen hereingeführt werden.
30 Als sie erscheinen, erkennt Aida ihren Vater
und eilt, ihn zu umarmen. Heimlich bittet er
sie, ihn nicht zu verraten. Der Pharao fordert
ihn auf, zu sagen wer er sei. 31 Er antwortet
bloß, er sei Aidas Vater, er habe für seinen
König und sein Land gekämpft, sie seien
besiegt und der König getötet worden. Er
erhofft sich vom Pharao Milde. Das Volk ist
tief bewegt und schließt sich seiner Bitte an.
32 Radames fordert das Versprechen des
Pharaos ein: Die äthiopischen Gefangenen
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und Sklaven mögen freigelassen werden.
Ramphis ist dagegen: Die Äthiopier würden
einen neuen Krieg beginnen. Radames weist
darauf hin, daß dies unwahrscheinlich sei, da
der König Amonasro nun tot ist. Ramphis gibt
sich damit zufrieden, daß Aida, die
Lieblingssklavin der Prinzessin, zusammen mit
ihrem Vater, als Geisel bleiben soll. Der
Pharao stimmt zu und kündigt an, daß
Radames als Belohnung die Hand der
Prinzessin Amneris erhalten werde – mit ihr
soll er eines Tages über Ägypten herrschen.
33 Der Akt endet in fast einmütigem Jubel.
könne Amneris überwinden und ihr Land und
ihre Liebe zurückerobern. 6 Die Ägypter
planen eine Offensive, und er will sie
aufhalten. Das Beste wäre, ihre Angriffslinie
vorwegzunehmen. “Who could ever discover?”
fragt sie. “Aida.” “I! No, no, ah, no!” Dann
werden ägyptische Kohorten über Äthiopien
herfallen. 7 – 8 Er verstößt sie als seine
Tochter; sie sei lediglich eine Sklavin der
Pharaonen. Sie fleht ihn um Verzeihung an,
doch man hört bereits, wie sich Radames
nähert. Amonasro zieht sich an einen Ort
zurück, wo er ihr Gespräch belauschen kann.
9 General Radames stürzt herein, voller
Freude, Aida wiederzusehen. Sie bietet ihm
jedoch Einhalt. Er ist Prinzessin Amneris
versprochen. 10 Er antwortet, daß er die
Zustimmung des Pharaos zu einer Heirat mit
ihr bekommen werde, nachdem er den
nächsten Krieg gewonnen habe. Aida fragt,
wer sie selbst solange vor der Prinzessin
schützen soll, 11 weist aber darauf hin, daß es
noch einen anderen Weg gäbe, nämlich
zusammen mit ihr nach Äthiopien zu fliehen,
wo die beiden gemeinsam leben und sich
lieben könnten. Er lehnt diesen Plan ab,
woraufhin sie ihm jedoch klarmacht, daß nun
die Axt auf sie und ihren Vater fallen werde.
12 Er gibt nach, und sie planen ihre Flucht.
COMPACT DISC TWO
Der 3. Akt spielt vor einem Isistempel an den
Ufern des Nils bei Mondlicht. 1 Von drinnen
ist der Gesang der Priesterinnen hörbar.
2 Ramphis hat die Prinzessin Amneris hierher
gebracht, um die Nacht vor ihrer Eheschließung
in heiliger Weihung zu verbringen.
3 – 4 Aida trifft zu einer letzten
Zusammenkunft mit Radames ein, 5 wird
aber von ihrem Vater unterbrochen. Ihm ist
klar, daß sie auf Radames wartet, daß sie ihn
liebt, daß aber die Tochter des Pharaos ihre
Rivalin ist. Aida gesteht, Amneris habe sie in
der Hand, doch ihr Vater legt ihr nahe, sie
36
Wie werden sie aber die ägyptische Armee
umgehen? Radames verrät Aida, wo die
Truppen stationiert sein werden, und
Amonasro tritt auf. Der General fragt ihn, wer
er sei. “Aida’s father, Ethiopia’s King.” 13 Erst
jetzt begreift Radames die Beziehung zwischen
Aida und König Amonasro, und daß er selbst
völlig entehrt ist. 14 Prinzessin Amneris, die
inzwischen aus dem Tempel getreten ist und
das Geschehen verfolgt hat, bezichtigt ihn des
Verrats. Amonasro bedroht die Prinzessin mit
einem Messer, wird aber von Radames
zurückgehalten, der ihm sagt, er solle fliehen,
und Amonasro schleppt Aida mit sich. Der
General ergibt sich den Priestern.
4. Akt 1. Szene. Draußen vor der Großen
Urteilshalle. Radames ist des Verrats angeklagt.
15 – 16 Die Prinzessin läßt ihn zu sich
bringen, doch er glaubt, Aida sei tot, und will
nicht länger leben. 17 – 19 Amneris sagt ihm,
König Amonasro sei tot, Aida aber
verschwunden. Er weigert sich, seine Liebe zu
Aida aufzugeben oder sich zu verteidigen,
20 – 21 und wird abgeführt, um den
priesterlichen Richtern gegenüberzutreten.
Diese erklären ihn für schuldig, und er wird
dazu verurteilt, unter dem Gottesaltar lebendig
begraben zu werden. 22 Als die Priester
herauskommen, verflucht Amneris sie.
4. Akt 2. Szene. Die Bühne ist zweigeteilt:
oben der Vulkantempel, unten ein
unterirdisches Gewölbe. 23 Der letzte Stein
ist über Radames’ Kopf gelegt worden.
24 Während er sich auf den Tod vorbereitet,
merkt er, daß er nicht allein ist. Aida hat sich
in der Gruft versteckt und will mit ihm
sterben. 25 Die Gesänge der Priesterinnen sind
in der Ferne zu hören. Während das
Liebespaar in einen ekstatischen Rausch
verfällt, bleibt es der Prinzessin überlassen, um
Frieden zu flehen.
© 2002 Peter Moores
Übersetzung: Bettina Reinke-Welsh
Jane Eaglen genießt in der heutigen
Opernwelt ein fast unvergleichliches
Renommee. Geboren im englischen Lincoln,
studierte sie am Royal Northern College of
Music, wo sie von einem Stipendium der Peter
Moores Foundation unterstützt wurde, und
sang dann an der English National Opera.
Einzigartige Erfolge erzielte sie in den
gegensätzlichen Rollen der Norma und der
Brünnhilde – ihr dramatischer Sopran ist zu
solch großen Leistungen fähig, dass sie sich
weltweit spektakuläres Lob errungen hat.
Ebenso hervorragende Kritiken bekam sie für
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ihre Auftritte als Brünnhilde (im Siegfried) an
der Lyric Opera of Chicago und dann für
ihren kompletten Ring am gleichen Haus
sowie mit Riccardo Muti an der Mailänder
Scala, in San Francisco und in Wien. Zuvor
hatte sie die Brünnhilde schon an der Opera
Pacific und der Scottish Opera gegeben. Ihrem
Erfolg als Norma an der Scottish Opera (in
einer von der Peter Moores Foundation
unterstützten Produktion) folgten von der
Kritik gelobte Darbietungen bei den
Festspielen von Ravenna mit Muti, an der
Seattle Opera, der Los Angeles Opera, an der
Opéra Bastille in Paris und der Scottish
Opera.
Zu ihren weiteren unvergesslichen
Opernauftritten gehören die Isolde in Seattle,
die sie jüngst erneut an der Metropolitan
Opera und der Lyric Opera of Chicago sang
(und dafür großartige Rezensionen bekam),
ihr Debüt in der Rolle der Gioconda an der
Lyric Opera of Chicago, Donna Anna (Don
Giovanni ) an der Metropolitan Opera – die sie
zuvor schon an der Wiener Staatsoper sowie in
Los Angeles, München und Bologna gegeben
hatte –, die Titelrolle in Turandot am Royal
Opera House Covent Garden, an der
Metropolitan Opera (mit Pavarotti), in Wien,
Madrid, Seattle, Bologna und an der Opéra
Bastille, Amelia (Un ballo in maschera) in
Bologna und an der Opéra Bastille, die
Titelrolle in Tosca an der English National
Opera, am Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires und
als konzertante Aufführung mit dem
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, außerdem die
Titelrolle der Ariadne auf Naxos für die
English National Opera.
Jane Eaglen ist ebenso auf dem
Konzertpodium zuhause, und zu ihren
Engagements zählen Verdis Requiem mit
Simon Rattle und dem City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra, Mahlers Achte Sinfonie
mit Klaus Tennstedt, der dritte Akt der
Götterdämmerung mit Bernard Haitink und
dem Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nabucco in
Ravenna mit Riccardo Muti, die Gurrelieder
mit Claudio Abbado bei den Festspielen von
Salzburg und Edinburgh, Norma in einer
konzertanten Aufführung beim Kopenhagener
Tivoli Festival und in der Carnegie Hall sowie
Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder mit Daniel
Barenboim und dem Chicago Symphony
Orchestra.
Jane Eaglens Aufnahmen auf Tonträger
umfassen eine CD mit Arien von Wagner und
Bellini, eine weitere mit Arien von Strauss und
Mozart, Mahlers Achte Sinfonie, Beethovens
Neunte, Bruckners Messe, Norma, Medea in
38
Corinto für Opera Rara, und für
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation die
preisgekrönte Tosca sowie eine Einspielung von
Turandot. Sie ist außerdem auf dem
Soundtrack der Filmfassung von Jane Austens
Sense and Sensibility zu hören.
Opera) und als Santuzza (an der Staatsoper
Berlin). Für die English National Opera ist sie
in Otello, Mary Stuart, The Turn of the Screw
(ausgezeichnet mit dem Olivier-Preis) und in
Puccinis The Cloak (Il tabarro) aufgetreten.
Zu ihren Aufnahmen auf Tonträger zählen
Mendelssohns Elias, Offenbachs Les Contes
d’Hoffmann, Verdis Il trovatore und (für
Chandos und die Peter Moores Foundation)
Mary Stuart und Otello.
Rosalind Plowright kann sich einer
ausgesprochen glanzvollen Karriere rühmen.
Sie hat am Royal Northern College of Music
und am London Opera Centre studiert und
dafür Stipendien sowohl von der Peter Moores
Foundation als auch von der Peter-StuyvesantStiftung erhalten. Ihre 1984 erschienene
Aufnahme von Il trovatore (als Leonora) mit
Placido Domingo und Carlo Maria Giuliani
am Dirigentenpult wurde für einen Grammy
Award nominiert. Im selben Jahr gab sie ihr
Debüt an der Royal Opera als Maddalena
(Andrea Chénier) neben José Carreras und als
Aida neben Luciano Pavarotti.
Rosalind Plowright ist an den meisten
bedeutenden Opernhäusern der Welt
aufgetreten, zum Beispiel als Suor Angelica
(an der Mailänder Scala), Leonora in
Il trovatore (in Verona) und in Stiffelio (am
Teatro La Fenice, Venedig), als Ariadne und
Medea (an der Opéra-Bastille, Paris), als
Madama Butterfly (an der Houston Grand
In Wales als Sohn irischer und walisischer
Eltern geboren, gehört Dennis O’Neill heute
als Spezialist für die Werke Verdis zu den
führenden Tenören der Welt. Er kann auf eine
lange Verbindung zum Royal Opera House
Covent Garden zurückblicken, und dort
gehörten zu seinen zahlreichen Rollen
u.a. Rodolfo (La Bohème), der Herzog
(Rigoletto), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly),
Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Macduff
(Macbeth), Gustavo (Un ballo in maschera),
Foresto (Attila), Otello, Don Carlos, Radames
(Aida), Aroldo (im Konzert), Carlo (Giovanna
d’Arco) und Jacopo (I due Foscari).
Für die Metropolitan Opera hat er Alfredo
(La traviata), Radames (Aida), Turiddu
(Cavalleria rusticana) und Canio (Pagliacci )
gesungen. Des Weiteren ist er in Amerika an
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der Lyric Opera of Chicago, in San Francisco,
San Diego, an der Vancouver Opera und im
Konzert mit den Sinfonieorchestern von
Philadelphia, Cleveland, Montreal und Ottawa
aufgetreten, außerdem beim Cincinnati
Festival. Als häufiger Gast an der Bayerischen
Staatsoper sang er in München nach seinem
Debüt in Un ballo in maschera in einer
Neuinszenierung von Il trovatore sowie im
Rosenkavalier, in Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor,
Simon Boccanegra, Aida, ferner die Titelrolle
des Otello. Zudem hat er an den
Opernhäusern von Wien, Berlin, Bonn, Köln,
Hamburg, München, Nizza, Zürich, Paris,
Oslo, Brüssel, Barcelona, Lissabon, Oviedo, in
der Arena di Verona und in Turin sowie an der
English National Opera gastiert. Daneben
pflegt er eine enge Beziehung zur Welsh
National Opera.
Denis O’Neill ist auch als Konzertsänger
gefragt und hat in ganz Europa gesungen.
Seine eigene Fernsehserien für die BBC waren
außerordentlich populär, und er hat seither
einen Fernsehfilm über Caruso fertig gestellt.
Seine Aufnahmen für Chandos /Peter Moores
Foundation umfassen Cavalleria rusticana,
Pagliacci, Tosca, La Bohème, Il trovatore sowie
eine CD mit Großen Opernarien. Dennis
O’Neill wurde zu Neujahr 2000 mit dem
Orden Commander of the British Empire
ausgezeichnet.
Gregory Yurisich ist heute als einer der
führenden Baritone der Welt anerkannt. Seine
letzten Darstellungen bedeutender Rollen aus
dem Verdi-Repertoire wurden hervorragend
kritisiert. Mit Beifall bedacht wurden unter
anderem folgende Auftritte: in Nabucco beim
Bregenzer Festspiel, an der Royal Opera in
London und in Genf, in der Titelrolle von
Rigoletto in Israel, Australien und Athen, in der
Titelrolle von Simon Boccanegra und als
Escamillo (Carmen) an der English National
Opera, in der Titelrolle von Falstaff in
Australien, als Germont Père (La traviata) an
der San Francisco Opera, der Australian
Opera, in Tel-Aviv und Genf, als Jago
(Otello) neben Placido Domingo an der
Los Angeles Opera und in Brisbane; als
Amonasro (Aida), Stankar (Stiffelio), Scarpia
(Tosca), die vier Bösewichte in Les Contes
d’Hoffmann und in der Titelrolle von
Guillaume Tell an der Royal Opera. Darüber
hinaus hat er Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) für
die Australian Opera gesungen, Balstrode
(Peter Grimes) am Pariser Théâtre du Châtelet
und am Théâtre La Monnaie in Brüssel sowie
bei seinem Debüt an der Berliner Staatsoper
40
Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana) und Tonio
(Pagliacci).
Gregory Yurisich hat viele internationale
Auftritte auf dem Konzertpodium hinter sich,
so auch in Mahlers Achter Sinfonie beim
Edinburgh Festival, als Alberich in einer
konzertanten Darbietung von Siegfried, als
Salieri (in Rimski-Korsakows Mozart und
Salieri) und in Beethovens Neunter Sinfonie
für den australischen Sender ABC Television.
Zu seinen Aufnahmen auf Tonträger zählen
Leporello (Don Giovanni), eine Soloaufnahme
mit Liedern von Peter Dawson und, für
Chandos und die Peter Moores Foundation,
Scarpia (Tosca) und Sharpless (Madam
Butterfly).
Mephistopheles, Zaccaria in Nabucco) und an
der Royal Opera, Covent Garden (Elmiro in
Otello und Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette).
Sein erster Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) war ein
ebenso großer Erfolg wie auch schon seine
vorausgegangenen Verdi-Darbietungen.
Seine höchst erfolgreiche Karriere als
Konzertsänger führt ihn rund um die Welt,
um mit führenden Dirigenten wie Giulini,
Mehta, Muti, Chung, Masur, Gergiew,
Gardiner und mit dem renommiertesten
Orchestern der Welt aufzutreten, während
seine Diskographie derzeit eindrucksvolle
zweiundvierzig Titel umfaßt, darunter Elias,
Verdis Requiem sowie Händels Saul und
Agrippina. Im Jahr 2000 gab er sein britisches
Recitaldebüt mit Roger Vignoles. Für
Chandos und die Peter Moores Foundation
hat er unter anderem Faust, La Bohème und
ein Soloprogramm mit großen Opernarien
aufgenommen, außerdem für Opera Rara
Medea in Corinto, Orazi e Curiazi, Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra, Ricciardo e Zoraide und Maria
regina d’Inghilterra.
Alastair Miles, der international als einer der
führenden Sänger Großbritanniens anerkannt
ist, hat am Metropolitan Opera House
(Giorgio in I puritani und Raimondo in Lucia
di Lammermoor) gesungen, an der Opéra
National de Paris-Bastille (Raimondo), in
Wien (in La Juive und Giorgio), in San
Francisco (Giorgio, Raimondo, sowie Basilio
in Il barbiere di Siviglia), in Amsterdam
(Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro), am Teatro Real
in Madrid (Philipp II. in Don Carlos), an der
English National Opera (die Titelrolle von
Peter Rose, geboren im englischen
Canterbury, hat an der University of East
Anglia Musik studiert und wurde von Ellis
Keeler an der Guildhall School of Music and
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Drama ausgebildet. 1985 wurde er als
Stipendiat des Kathleen Ferrier Memorial
Scholarship ausgezeichnet, und 1986 erhielt er
den Glyndebourne John Christie Award. Sein
Operndebüt gab er 1986 als Komtur (Don
Giovanni) mit der Glyndebourne Festival
Opera in Hongkong. Er war von 1986 bis
1989 Erster Baß der Welsh National Opera
und hat am Royal Opera House neben
Dame Joan Sutherland als Rochefort
(Anna Bolena) debütiert.
Zu seinen Partien zählen Ramfis (Aida),
Fasolt (Das Rheingold ), Cadmus/Somnus
(Semele), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer),
König Marke (Tristan und Isolde) und der
Komtur am Royal Opera House Covent
Garden, Gessler (Guillaume Tell ), der Komtur
und Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) in San
Francisco, Kečal (Die verkaufte Braut) an der
Chicago Lyric Opera, Ramfis, Daland und
Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier) an der Metropolitan
Opera sowie weitere Rollen an der Wiener
Staatsoper, der Deutschen Staatsoper, der
Hamburgischen Staatsoper, in Amsterdam und
bei Festspielen in Istanbul und Bregenz.
Seine Konzertengagements umfassen
Beethovens Neunte mit Carlo Maria Giulini,
Mozarts Requiem mit Daniel Barenboim und
Zubin Mehta, Mahlers Achte mit Tilson
Thomas in der Londoner Royal Albert Hall,
Verdis Requiem im Londoner Barbican,
La Damnation de Faust mit dem Chicago
Symphony Orchestra und Sir Georg Solti,
Ravels L’Enfant et les sortilèges und L’Heure
espagnole mit dem Cleveland Orchestra unter
Pierre Boulez und Beethovens Missa solemnis
mit dem New York Philharmonic Orchestra
unter Kurt Masur. Auf Tonträger hat er unter
anderem Le nozze di Figaro, The Seven Deadly
Sins, Salome, Un ballo in maschera und, für
Chandos und die Peter Moores Foundation,
Ernani, The Barber of Seville, Tosca und eine
Einspielung von Lucia di Lammermoor
aufgenommen.
Susan Gritton, 1994 Gewinnerin des Kathleen
Ferrier Memorial Prize, hat in Oxford und
London Botanik studiert, ehe sie ihre
Gesangskarriere startete. Ebenfalls 1994 gab
sie ihr Recitaldebüt in der Londoner Wigmore
Hall. Sie gibt regelmäßig Recitals in ganz
Großbritannien, und ihre weitreichende
Erfahrung als Konzertsängerin hat sie ins
Amsterdamer Concertgebouw, ins Wiener
Konzerthaus und in die Berliner Philharmonie
geführt.
An Opernpartien hat Susan Gritton unter
anderem Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) und
42
Zerlina (Don Giovanni) für die Glyndebourne
Festival und Touring Opera gesungen, die
Gouvernante (The Turn of the Screw) und
Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia) unter Steuart
Bedford in Snape Maltings, Tiny (Paul
Bunyan) für die Royal Opera, Belinda (Dido
and Aeneas) an der Deutschen Staatsoper
Berlin, Fulvia in Händels Ezio mit dem King’s
Consort am Théâtre des Champs Elysées in
Paris, Marzelline (Fidelio) am Opernhaus von
Rom und Romilda (Xerxes) an der Bayerischen
Staatsoper. An der English National Opera, wo
sie als Erste Solistin engagiert ist, hat sie unter
anderem Atalanta (Xerxes) gegeben, Constance
in The Carmelites (Poulencs Les dialogues des
Carmélites), Pamina (The Magic Flute),
Drusilla (The Coronation of Poppea), Nannetta
(Falstaff ) und die Füchsin in The Cunning
Little Vixen.
Für Chandos hat sie unter anderem Paul
Bunyan aufgenommen, The Pilgrim’s Progress,
Sir John in Love, Mendelssohns Oratorium
Paulus, mehrere CDs mit Haydn-Messen und
eine Falstaff-Aufzeichnung (für Chandos und
die Peter Moores Foundation).
mit der D’Oyly Carte Opera Company im
Jahr 1994. Er hat bei Neil Mackie am Royal
College of Music studiert und vor kurzem sein
Studium am National Opera Studio in
London abgeschlossen.
Als Oratoriensänger ist er unter anderem in
Puccinis Messa di Gloria aufgetreten, in
Mendelssohns Elias, in Verdis Requiem sowie
in Rossinis Petite Messe solennelle und Stabat
mater. Zu seinen Opernauftritten sind
Roderigo in Otello und die Titelrolle von
Brittens Albert Herring zu rechnen.
1999 kehrte er an die D’Oyly Carte Opera
zurück, um Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore
in der Royal Festival Hall zu singen; außerdem
gab er Ernesto in Don Pasquale an der Scottish
Opera-Go-Round. Als Roderigo ist er
außerdem am Théâtre La Monnaie in Brüssel
aufgetreten; er hat an der Grange Park Opera
Ferrando und Nanki-Poo (Mikado) sowie
Rodolfo (La Bohème) für die Glyndebourne
Touring Opera gesungen. Er gehört zu den
ersten Sängern, denen ein Platz im Vilar
Young Artists Programme am Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden zugedacht wurde.
Alfred Boe, geboren in der nordenglischen
Grafschaft Lancashire, begann seine
Ausbildung nach einer landesweiten Tournee
Geoffrey Mitchells Gesangskarriere hat ihm
ein bemerkenswert breitgefächertes Repertoire
von der alten bis zur neuen Musik beschert
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und ihn nach Skandinavien, Deutschland, in
die ehemalige Tschechoslowakei, nach Kanada
und Australasien geführt. Nachdem er bei der
BBC erste Dirigiererfahrungen gesammelt
hatte, begann er mit eigenen Sängern zu
arbeiten und gründete den Geoffrey Mitchell
Choir. Aus ersten Aufnahmen entwickelte sich
eine langfristige Zusammenarbeit des Chors
mit Opera Rara, für die er über dreißig
Tonträger aufgenommen hat. Der Chor
genießt wachsendes Ansehen und ist bei der
BBC und internationalen Plattenfirmen
gefragt. Für Chandos hat der Geoffrey
Mitchell Choir an zahlreichen Aufnahmen der
hervorragend kritisierten Reihe Opera in
English unter der Schirmherrschaft der Peter
Moores Foundation teilgenommen.
Salonen unterhalten. Unter seinem derzeitigen
Chefdirigenten Christoph von Dohnanyi und
mit Leonard Slatkin als Erstem Gastdirigenten
hat das Orchester seine zentrale Position im
britischen Musikleben gefestigt, und zwar
nicht nur in London, wo es als Hausorchester
der Royal Festival Hall fungiert, sondern mit
Hilfe regionaler Gastspiele auch für ein
breiteres Publikum.
Das Orchester hat mehrere bedeutende
Preise gewonnen und mit seiner Vitalität und
seinem einzigartig warmen Klang den Beifall
der Kritik gefunden. Außerdem wurde es für
seine innovative Programmgestaltung
gepriesen, in deren Kern die Zielsetzung steht,
neue Stücke der weltweit führenden lebenden
Komponisten, zum Beispiel seines derzeitigen
Gastkomponisten James MacMillan, zu spielen
und in Auftrag zu geben.
Das Orchester unternimmt oft
Auslandstourneen und kann als das am
häufigsten aufgenommene Sinfonieorchester
der Welt über tausend Einspielungen für sich
verbuchen. Darunter befinden sich (für die
Reihe Opera Rara) mehrere Aufnahmen mit
Opernarien und elf vollständige
Opernaufzeichnungen (Donizettis Ugo, conte
di Parigi, Ne m’oubliez pas, Emilia di Liverpool,
L’assedio di Calais, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra und
Seit seinen vielversprechenden Anfängen 1945,
als es von Walter Legge hauptsächlich für
Schallplattenaufnahmen gegründet wurde, hat
das Philharmonia Orchestra einige der
bedeutendsten Dirigenten des zwanzigsten
Jahrhunderts für sich gewonnen. Besonders
enge Beziehungen zu dem Orchester haben
Otto Klemperer (der erste Chefdirigent),
Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe
Sinopoli, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Andrew
Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy und Esa-Pekka
44
Maria de Rudenz, Meyerbeers Dinorah, Mayrs
Medea in Corinto, Mercadantes Orazi e
Curiazi, Pacinis Maria, regina d’Inghilterra und
Rossinis Otello). Das Orchester hat für
Chandos zahlreiche Aufnahmen auf Tonträger
vorgenommen, beispielsweise für die Reihe
Opera in English unter der Schirmherrschaft
der Peter Moores Foundation L’elisir d’amore,
Faust, La bohème, die preisgekrönte Tosca und
sechs Soloalben mit Opernarien (mit Bruce
Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny und John
Tomlinson).
Philharmonia Orchestra auf. 1996 gab er sein
Debüt beim Glyndebourne Festival mit Così
fan tutte und hat dort 1998 die Uraufführung
von Jonathan Doves Flight geleitet.
Er ist häufig in Spanien zu Gast und hat mit
den meisten bedeutenden spanischen
Orchestern Konzerte gegeben. In Madrid hat er
die spanische Erstaufführung von Peter Grimes
dirigiert, und 1996 die erste spanische
Inszenierung von The Rake’s Progress. Er ist in
Deutschland, Schweden und den Niederlanden
aufgetreten, bei den Festspielen in Pesaro,
beim Hong Kong International Festival, in
Japan anläßlich einer Carmen-Tournee und in
Mexiko mit dem UNAM Symphony Orchestra.
Zu den Neuproduktionen, die er in letzter Zeit
dirigiert hat, zählen Fidelio beim New Zealand
Festival, Maria Stuarda am Stadttheater Basel
und Lucia di Lammermoor an der New Israeli
Opera.
Seine Tätigkeit im Aufnahmestudio umfaßt
die Produktion von Marschners Der Vampyr
fürs BBC-Fernsehen und einundzwanzig
vollständige Opernaufzeichnungen unter der
Schirmherrschaft der Peter Moores
Foundation. Darunter befinden sich zahlreiche
Aufnahmen des Labels Opera Rara, die
mehrere Preise gewonnen haben, beispielsweise
den belgischen Prix Cecilia für Donizettis
David Parry hat bei Sergiu Celibidache
studiert und seine berufliche Laufbahn als
Assistent von Sir John Pritchard begonnen. Er
hat am English Music Theatre debütiert und
wurde dann Dirigent mit Festvertrag an den
Städtischen Bühnen Dortmund und an der
Opera North. Von 1983 bis 1987 war er
Musikdirektor der Opera 80 und seit 1992
Gründungsmitglied und Direktor der Almeida
Opera.
Er übt in Großbritannien und international
eine weitgespannte Tätigkeit in den Bereichen
Oper und Konzert aus, hat mehrere
Produktionen der English National Opera
dirigiert und tritt regelmäßig mit dem
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Page 46
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra. Für Chandos hat er die
Aufzeichnung von sieben Programmen mit
Opernarien geleitet (mit Bruce Ford, Diana
Montague, Dennis O’Neill, Alastair Miles,
Yvonne Kenny, John Tomlinson und Della
Jones), außerdem Don Giovanni, Ernani,
Bill Cooper
CHAN 3074 BOOK.qxd
Faust, Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’amore,
La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci,
Il trovatore, die preisgekrönte Tosca und
Highlights aus dem Rosenkavalier, jeweils in
Zusammenarbeit mit der Peter Moores
Foundation.
Rosalind Plowright
as Amneris in
Scottish Opera’s
production of Aida
46
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Giuseppe Verdi: Aïda
La “Tinta” (dont la traduction la plus
appropriée est “couleur”) est essentielle dans
les opéras de la maturité de Verdi. En effet, la
couleur est la qualité qui définit le mieux ses
compositions lyriques. Cette qualité, qu’il
partage avec Britten et quelques rares autres
compositeurs, est l’un des facteurs qui font de
ces deux musiciens d’aussi grands créateurs
dans le genre. Chacune des œuvres de Verdi
possède une “tinta” qui lui est propre et
n’appartient à aucune autre. Et cette remarque
est encore plus vraie dans Aïda (1871, opéra
composé pour l’inauguration de l’Opéra du
Caire).
Dès les premières mesures du Prélude (après
la première représentation, Verdi composa une
ouverture, mais y renonça immédiatement, la
jugeant inférieure à ce qu’il avait déjà écrit),
nous sommes transportés dans l’air mystérieux
et parfumé de l’Egypte antique et dans son
monde de loyautés conflictuelles,
d’intransigeance des prêtres et d’amour
passionné. Le thème chromatique, introduit
par les cordes aiguës, que l’on reconnaîtra par
la suite comme le motif d’Aïda, et l’idée
légèrement sinistre développée sur le plan
contrapuntique qui sera associée aux Prêtres,
situe le drame sur le point de se dérouler. Ces
deux éléments, ainsi que tout le matériel
mélodique et rythmique qui suit, ne se
trouvent que dans Aïda du point de vue des
sentiments et de la couleur.
Aïda est un opéra unique à un autre égard.
Ici, encore plus que dans Don Carlos écrit peu
de temps auparavant et qui révèle une “tinta”
tout à fait différente, les conflits personnels se
déroulent dans le contexte de la politique et de
la pompe publiques. Le génie de Verdi consiste
à introduire immédiatement ces deux éléments
dans son drame. Dans la toute première scène,
le général égyptien Radamès prend conscience
d’un conflit entre son devoir à l’égard de son
pays et l’amour qu’il porte à l’esclave
éthiopienne Aïda; quant à la princesse
Amneris, elle comprend qu’Aïda est une rivale
dans l’amour qu’elle porte à Radamès. On
annonce l’invasion éthiopienne conduite par le
père d’Aïda, Amonasro; le roi d’Égypte charge
Radamès de mener le combat contre l’ennemi;
les confrontations privées et publiques
commencent alors vraiment. Elles sont
accentuées par l’air d’Aïda “As victor then
48
return”, où ses émotions très contrastées,
l’amour filial pour son père, l’amour
romantique pour Radamès, sont définies avec
une étonnante précision. On trouve ici une
autre facette de l’habileté de Verdi: le nombre
d’éléments importants et déterminants pour le
développement de l’intrigue qu’il parvient à
insérer dans une période musicale relativement
courte.
Cette scène fixe également le rythme et la
structure de l’opéra dans son ensemble. Le
rythme est dicté par des événements qui se
déroulent en coulisses. Dans le domaine de la
vie publique, la bataille remportée par
Radamès; dans le domaine privé, les intrigues
de la jalouse Amneris, qui culminent dans la
confrontation sur scène avec Aïda où, par des
moyens détournés, elle parvient à dévoiler
l’amour secret qu’Aïda porte à Radamès. Cette
scène, à son tour, s’avère être un prélude à la
grande scène solennelle de triomphe qui valut
initialement sa renommée à Aïda. Tout y est:
la magnificence chorale, les danses
entraînantes, la couleur locale poussée au
maximum avec l’apparition des célèbres
trompettes “égyptiennes”, et d’autres procédés
instrumentaux menant à l’entrée triomphale
de Radamès, puis l’apparition des prisonniers
éthiopiens. Là, soudain, nous revenons aux
questions privées. Amonasro murmure à sa
fille Aïda de ne pas révéler sa véritable qualité
de roi d’Éthiopie; il décrit ensuite sa défaite au
combat et lance un appel à la clémence. Aïda
soutient la demande de son père; les Prêtres la
contestent vigoureusement.
Tout est magistralement prévu par Verdi.
Ainsi le grand ensemble qui suit, où le
compositeur fait preuve de son habileté à
mêler des parties solistes complexes sur un
arrière-plan choral, ensemble qui culmine dans
un touchant solo d’Aïda. Le roi d’Égypte
accorde ensuite à Radamès la main de sa fille
Amneris en récompense de sa victoire.
Après la grandiloquence de cette scène aux
portes de Thèbes, les deux derniers actes se
déroulent dans un cadre plus restreint et se
composent dans une large mesure de duos
confiés aux quatre principaux personnages.
Alors que les caractères d’Aïda, Radamès et
Amonasro sont à peine altérés par des
situations extrêmes, les deux derniers actes
confirment un changement considérable dans
le caractère d’Amneris. Ces séries de duos, où
Verdi est au meilleur de son inspiration, sont
complétées par deux solos, où Aïda et Amneris
se livrent respectivement à une introspection
de leurs états émotionnels. Ces duos montrent
comment Verdi les conduit à révéler de
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manière infaillible leur moi profond et leurs
motivations intérieures.
L’Acte III commence par un autre coup de
maître dans l’art de la composition. Sur un
fond musical légèrement oscillant qui dépeint
le Nil, avec un chœur en coulisses, Amneris et
Ramphis débarquent d’un navire et entrent
prier dans un temple. Aïda sort de l’ombre et
chante la romanza, “Oh, dearest home”, une
page inspirée ajoutée plus tard à la partition,
qui dépeint sa nostalgie du pays natal dans un
mélange fluide de récitatif et d’aria,
l’accompagnement agité reflétant son état
d’esprit inquiet et pourtant réfléchi. En dehors
de cela, cette romanza offre à une soprano
lyrico-dramatique une occasion exceptionnelle
de se mettre en valeur grâce à une longue ligne
et à des inflexions tonales.
La scène suivante avec son père mêle une
fois encore avec discrétion des passages de
parlando et des éclats lyriques. Verdi est alors
complètement libéré des restrictions formelles
imposées par l’opéra italien antérieur à son
époque qui limitaient sa conception lyrique
dans ses premiers ouvrages. Les solos sont
désormais au service des besoins du drame et
non plus au service de ceux du chanteur;
pourtant, d’un certain point de vue, ils sont
presque plus exigeants pour les interprètes que
l’ancien style. Lorsque Amonasro joue avec les
pensées d’Aïda, avec l’amour qu’elle porte à
celui qu’elle chérit et avec sa fidélité envers son
pays, il lui fait prendre pleinement conscience
de ce que le devoir et le patriotisme doivent
passer avant les désirs personnels. La manière
dont Verdi façonne la volonté absolue
d’Amonasro d’aller à l’encontre des émotions
conflictuelles de sa fille le montre au sommet
de son art tant par la maîtrise musicale que par
la compréhension du psychisme de ses
personnages.
Dans la scène suivante, qui s’enchaîne de
façon absolument inévitable, Aïda joue
maintenant avec les émotions de Radamès
comme Amonasro a joué avec les siennes.
L’ardeur qu’elle déploie le place à sa merci, ce
qui lui permet de le convaincre de fuir avec
elle les horreurs de la guerre vers une terre de
plaisir et d’amour, dans un passage musical
tourné de façon extrêmement séduisante qui
commence par “We’d leave this white
oppressive heat”. Pour le persuader encore
davantage, elle l’accuse même de ne pas l’aimer
suffisamment. Dans un passage où l’ardeur est
encore renouvelée, il accepte sa proposition et
tous deux chantent une cabaletta passionnée
(la cabaletta était autrefois la conclusion rapide
de tout numéro). Elle s’achève brusquement
50
lorsque Aïda arrache à son amant la route que
prendra son armée. Le talent saisissant de
Verdi à développer l’intrigue au travers de la
musique se confirme quand Amonasro émerge
triomphant de l’ombre. Avant que les trois
protagonistes puissent s’enfuir, Amneris, qui,
comme nous l’avons vu, priait dans le temple
adjacent, les entend par hasard et Radamès se
laisse capturer dans un cri de total désespoir.
Certains commentateurs pensent que cet
opéra aurait dû s’intituler Amneris: une
excellente mezzo peut rendre le rôle savoureux,
car il regorge d’une musique généreuse et
variée dans le plus grand genre de Verdi.
L’ouvrage culmine dans la première scène de
l’Acte IV, qui est presque entièrement dévolu à
ce personnage. J’ai entendu de nombreuses
interprètes se faire applaudir à tout rompre à la
fin de cette scène, hommage rendu tout autant
à la superbe écriture du compositeur qu’au
talent de la chanteuse.
Bien que Radamès soit condamné à mort,
Amneris décide de le sauver à la seule
condition qu’il quitte Aïda et se donne à elle.
Dans le long arioso où elle tourne et retourne
dans sa tête sa décision, Verdi apporte tout le
soin nécessaire à son écriture pour que paroles
et musique soient étroitement assorties. Elle
exige qu’on sorte Radamès de sa prison et
qu’on l’amène en sa présence: en fait, au seul
mot de “Soldiers”, toute Amneris digne de ce
nom peut exercer sa complète autorité. Ensuite
vient encore un autre dialogue captivant. Dans
un passage déclamatoire, similaire pour la
mezzo et le ténor, Amneris supplie Radamès
de se défendre; il refuse avec défi, déclarant
qu’il n’a plus rien à attendre de la vie. Vient
alors un passage lyrique déchirant “Ah! You
must live”, où Amneris déclare son amour
d’un ton passionné. Une fois encore, il reste
sourd à son appel, mais, lorsque elle lui révèle
qu’Aïda est toujours vivante, il laisse éclater sa
joie à cette nouvelle; Amneris perd alors son
sang-froid et laisse libre cours à l’explosion
d’une fureur jalouse. Ce merveilleux duo est
l’incarnation même du Grand Opéra: deux
personnages exposant leurs positions,
généralement placés aux deux extrémités de la
scène, avec une totale conviction et séparés par
un vide tout autant psychologique que
physique.
La scène du procès de Radamès devant les
Prêtres est peut-être la plus originale de tout
l’opéra. Au moment où commence le
jugement, on entend Amneris exprimer son
angoisse à l’arrière-plan. Après une prière
solennelle, les Prêtres proclament une
condamnation à trois voix dans laquelle ils
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demandent à Radamès de se disculper, chaque
fois un demi-ton plus haut, touche magistrale
de la part de Verdi. Radamès demeure
silencieux et, chaque fois, Amneris pousse un
cri de désespoir plus intense. Les Prêtres
prononcent ensuite leur sentence: Radamès
sera enterré vivant. Les cris d’Amneris pour
obtenir sa grâce, tout en arpentant la scène en
tous sens, laissent insensibles les implacables
ministres de la haine qui répètent leur
injonction “He shall die”. Elle finit par
prononcer une malédiction effrayante à leur
encontre: “Evil vipers, may you all be
accurs’d”. Quoi qu’il se soit passé auparavant,
j’ai toujours entendu cette scène faire ses
preuves, ce qui montre bien à quel point Verdi
maîtrisait son matériel à ce stade de maturité
dans sa carrière.
On se demande au théâtre si le finale peut
faire autre chose que passer du sublime au
terre à terre. Mais Verdi, ce vieil oiseau sage,
sait comment procéder: il écrit une scène
d’adieu au monde, courte et intime, l’antithèse
de ce qui s’est passé auparavant. Alors que
Radamès médite sur son amour pour Aïda, il
discerne ce qu’il prend pour une vision, mais
qui s’avère être sa bien-aimée; elle est entrée,
sans être vue, dans la tombe afin de partager
son destin. Plus de grandeur ni de
changements brutaux de passion; ils cèdent la
place à une déclaration d’amour véritable,
presque détachée du monde, sous forme
tripartite. D’abord “To die! So pure and
lovely!” de Radamès, déclaration mélancolique
et digne de son chagrin face à la mort
imminente d’Aïda. Comme toujours, Verdi
plonge de manière infaillible dans les pensées
de l’un de ses principaux personnages. En
outre, ce passage de pure beauté lyrique est
particulièrement triste. La réponse d’Aïda, si
éthérée dans sa forme, semble indiquer qu’elle
est déjà proche du ciel.
Finalement, accompagnés par le chant des
Prêtres réunis dans le temple, une touche de
pure inspiration, Radamès et Aïda font leurs
adieux au monde dans une mélodie d’une
extrême simplicité, en forme d’arche, qui
s’élève dans les cieux: “Farewell, oh life”, qu’ils
chantent chacun leur tour, puis ensemble à
l’unisson. Pour accentuer l’intense tristesse de
la fin, on entend Amneris et on la voit audessus de la tombe, à genoux, implorant la
paix pour les âmes de ceux qui sont au-dessous
d’elle.
Aïda se situe entre la glorieuse troisième
période de l’œuvre lyrique de Verdi, avec la
version révisée de Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo
in maschera, La forza del destino et Don Carlos,
52
et la période finale qui commence avec les
chefs-d’œuvre shakespeariens, Otello et Falstaff.
Aïda conserve l’immense énergie et l’envergure
des quatre opéras qui l’ont précédé (même si
son concept n’est pas tout à fait aussi original
que celui de Don Carlos), tout en allant dans
une certaine mesure vers la plus grande
économie de moyens des deux derniers opéras.
L’ouvrage fait surtout penser, ce qui n’est guère
surprenant, à la souplesse, au souffle
mélodique et à la force dramatique du
Requiem, de trois ans postérieur. Depuis sa
création, Aïda a conservé une popularité
inébranlable. S’il est moins souvent représenté
de nos jours que dans un passé récent, c’est à
cause de la distribution et de la difficulté à
réunir les cinq principaux rôles, sans oublier le
montant des dépenses à engager pour une
production réussie.
des prisonniers éthiopiens sont régulièrement
vendus sur les marchés d’esclaves égyptiens.
Le pharaon régnant a pour seul enfant une
fille célibataire: la princesse Amnéris. Celle-ci
compte parmi ses suivantes une esclave
éthiopienne d’origine noble, Aïda, dont elle
ignore qu’elle est fille du roi éthiopien
Amonasro. Amnéris voue une passion muette
à un officier plein d’avenir de l’armée royale, le
noble Radamès. Mais celui-ci est secrètement
épris d’Aïda, qui l’aime en retour.
COMPACT DISC ONE
Acte I, premier tableau. Après un bref
prélude ( 1 ), le rideau se lève sur une salle du
palais du pharaon à Memphis, capitale de
l’Égypte. 2 Radamès s’entretient avec le grand
prêtre Ramfis de la rumeur d’une nouvelle
invasion éthiopienne. Ramfis lui apprend que
la déesse a nommé un général et qu’il va de ce
pas en informer le pharaon. 3 – 4 Resté seul,
Radamès songe que, s’il devait être choisi,
son rêve pourrait devenir réalité. Grâce à la
victoire qu’il remporterait à la tête de l’armée,
il pourrait obtenir tout ce qu’il souhaite.
5 Amnéris interrompt sa rêverie.
6 – 7 Le trouble évident que suscite en lui
l’entrée d’Aïda confirme les soupçons de la
© 2002 Alan Blyth
Traduction: Marie-Stella Pâris
Argument
L’action se passe en Égypte au temps des
pharaons. Capables d’interpréter les volontés
des dieux sacrés, les prêtres contrôlent le
gouvernement. Depuis longtemps, l’Égypte est
en guerre avec sa voisine au Sud, l’Éthiopie;
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ont été vaincus. 17 – 18 Amnéris et ses
suivantes se préparent à célébrer la victoire.
19 Lorsqu’arrive Aïda, la princesse renvoie ses
esclaves, 20 et assure la jeune femme de sa
sympathie à l’occasion de la défaite de son
pays. Cherchant à confirmer ses soupçons, elle
lui annonce ensuite faussement que Radamès a
été tué au combat. 21 Aïda pousse un cri et
Amnéris reconnaît avoir menti. La jeune
Éthiopienne laisse alors exploser sa joie.
N’ayant désormais plus aucun doute, Amnéris
la raille en lui disant qu’elle aussi aime
Radamès mais qu’elle est fille du pharaon
tandis qu’Aïda n’est qu’une esclave. Piquée au
vif, la jeune femme est à deux doigts de révéler
qu’elle est princesse elle aussi mais se rattrape à
temps, garde son secret, 22 et cherche à
éveiller la compassion d’Amnéris. 23 On
entend au dehors les acclamations saluant le
défilé des guerriers victorieux; la princesse
ordonne à Aïda de la suivre: elle verra ainsi si
elle est de taille à lutter contre elle! 24 De
nouveau, Aïda implore la pitié des dieux.
Acte II, second tableau. Scène du triomphe.
Une avenue à Thèbes, devant le temple
d’Amon. 25 La population a envahi les rues
pour célébrer la victoire. Le pharaon entre et
prend place sur le trône, entouré de sa cour;
Amnéris s’assied à ses côtés, avec Aïda à ses
princesse: c’est son esclave qu’aime Radamès.
Aïda, quant à elle, ne pense qu’à son amour
pour ce dernier et aux difficultés générées par
sa situation d’esclave.
8 Arrive le pharaon qui réunit la cour, le
peuple et les prêtres. On fait entrer un messager,
porteur d’une nouvelle urgente: les Éthiopiens
marchent sur Thèbes avec à leur tête le roi
Amonasro (aparté d’Aïda: “Mon père!”). Après
avoir annoncé qu’Isis a désigné Radamès comme
général des armées, 9 le pharaon entonne un
hymne guerrier repris par tout le peuple. Dans
son émotion, Aïda se joint à l’exhortation finale
adressée à Radamès: “As victor then return”.
10 – 11 Restée seule, cependant, elle songe
combien elle est écartelée entre les exigences
irréconciliables de son amour pour son père et sa
patrie d’un côté, pour Radamès de l’autre,
12 et implore la pitié des dieux.
Le second tableau de l’acte I se déroule à
l’intérieur du temple de Vulcain, à Memphis.
13 – 14 Prêtres et prêtresses exécutent des
danses rituelles et adressent leurs invocations
au dieu Ptah. 15 Ramfis invite le général
Radamès à ceindre l’épée sacrée. 16 Tous
implorent les dieux de donner la victoire à
l’Égypte.
Acte II, premier tableau: les appartements
privés de la princesse Amnéris. Les Éthiopiens
54
pieds. 26 – 27 Les troupes défilent, un groupe
de danseuses exhibe les trophées de guerre; on
apporte les statues des dieux, 28 enfin
Radamès fait son entrée, sous un baldaquin
porté par douze officiers.
29 Le pharaon le proclame sauveur de la
patrie et se dit prêt à lui accorder la
récompense de son choix. Le général Radamès
demande que l’on fasse entrer les prisonniers
de guerre. 30 Reconnaissant son père parmi
eux, Aïda se précipite pour l’embrasser. À voix
basse, il l’enjoint de ne point le trahir.
31 Lorsque le pharaon lui demande qui il est,
il répond simplement qu’il est le père d’Aïda,
qu’il s’est battu pour son roi et pour son pays,
qu’ils ont été vaincus et que le roi est mort. Il
implore la clémence du pharaon. Le peuple,
profondément ému, se joint à sa prière.
32 Invoquant la récompense promise par le
pharaon, Radamès demande la liberté des
prisonniers et des esclaves éthiopiens. Ramfis
s’interpose, craignant que les Éthiopiens ne
reprennent les armes. Radamès estime la chose
peu probable à présent que le roi Amonasro
est mort; le grand prêtre demande alors que
l’on garde au moins en otages l’esclave favorite
de la princesse, Aïda, et son père. Le pharaon
le lui accorde et annonce que, pour
récompenser Radamès, il lui donne en mariage
la princesse Amnéris: un jour, il régnera avec
elle sur l’Égypte. 33 Tous ou presque se
réjouissent tandis que l’acte s’achève.
COMPACT DISC TWO
L’acte III se déroule au clair de lune devant
le temple d’Isis, sur les bords du Nil.
1 À l’intérieur, on entend le chant des
prêtresses. 2 Ramfis amène la princesse
Amnéris afin qu’elle y passe la nuit à invoquer
la déesse, à la veille de ses noces.
3 – 5 Aïda arrive à son tour pour
retrouver Radamès et lui faire ses adieux
lorsque survient son père. Il sait qu’elle attend
le jeune officier, qu’elle l’aime mais qu’elle a
pour rivale la fille du pharaon. Lorsqu’Aïda
reconnaît être en son pouvoir, son père
souligne qu’il lui est possible de vaincre
Amnéris, de reconquérir sa patrie et son
amour. 6 Les Égyptiens projettent une
offensive et il veut les arrêter. Le meilleur
moyen est de connaître à l’avance leur ligne
d’attaque. “Who could ever discover?”
demande Aïda. “Aida!” “I! No, no, ah, no!”
Alors, que les cohortes égyptiennes fondent sur
l’Éthiopie. 7 – 8 Il la répudie, elle n’est plus
sa fille; elle n’est que l’esclave des pharaons.
Aïda implore son pardon mais on entend
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Radamès approcher. Amonasro se cache
de manière à pouvoir entendre leur
conversation.
9 Le général Radamès se précipite auprès
d’Aïda, infiniment heureux de la revoir. Elle
l’arrête. Il est promis à la princesse Amnéris.
10 Il répond que dès qu’il aura gagné la
prochaine guerre il obtiendra l’autorisation du
pharaon de l’épouser. Aïda demande qui la
protégera de la princesse 11 et suggère qu’il
existe une autre solution: qu’il s’enfuie avec
elle en Éthiopie où ils pourront vivre ensemble
et s’aimer. Lorsqu’il refuse, elle lui rétorque
que c’est les livrer, son père et elle, à la hache
du bourreau. 12 Il cède et tous deux
s’apprêtent à fuir. Mais comment éviteront-ils
l’armée l’égyptienne? Radamès explique à Aïda
où les troupes seront stationnées; Amonasro
surgit et le général lui demande qui il est.
“Aida’s father, Ethiopia’s King”, répond-il.
13 Alors, seulement, Radamès comprend quels
liens unissent Aïda et le roi Amonasro et qu’il
est totalement déshonoré. 14 La princesse
Amnéris, qui est sortie du temple et a observé
la scène, le dénonce comme traître. Amonasro
se jette sur elle avec un poignard mais
Radamès s’interpose, lui ordonne de fuir, et le
roi entraîne de force Aïda. Le général se rend
aux prêtres.
Acte IV, premier tableau. À l’extérieur
de la salle du tribunal. Radamès doit être
jugé pour trahison. 15 – 16 La princesse le
fait amener devant elle, mais il croit Aïda
morte et n’a plus aucun désir de vivre.
17 – 18 Amnéris lui dit que le roi Amonasro
est mort mais qu’Aïda a disparu. Lorsqu’il
refuse de renoncer à son amour pour elle ou
de se défendre, 20 – 21 il est conduit devant
les prêtres qui doivent le juger. Reconnu
coupable, il est condamné à être enfermé
vivant dans une tombe sous l’autel du dieu.
22 Les juges quittent le tribunal, et Amnéris
les maudit.
Acte IV, second tableau. La scène est divisée
en deux. En haut, le temple de Vulcain;
dessous, un souterrain. 23 Une dernière
pierre l’a fermé au-dessus de la tête de
Radamès. 24 Il se prépare à mourir lorsqu’il
prend conscience qu’il n’est pas seul. Aïda s’est
cachée dans le souterrain avec l’intention de
mourir à ses côtés. 25 On entend le chant des
prêtresses dans le lointain. Tandis qu’un
étourdissement extatique gagne peu à peu les
deux amants, il ne reste plus à Amnéris qu’à
implorer la paix.
© 2002 Peter Moores
Traduction: Josée Bégaud
56
Jane Eaglen possède l’une des réputations les
plus extraordinaires dans le monde de l’opéra
aujourd’hui. Né à Lincoln, elle a étudié au
Royal Northern College of Music de
Manchester grâce au soutien d’une bourse de la
Peter Moores Foundation, puis elle est entrée à
l’English National Opera. Rencontrant un
succés sans précédent dans les rôles contrastés
de Norma et de Brünnhilde, sa voix est celle
d’une soprano dramatique exceptionnelle
recevant des critiques sensationnelles dans le
monde entier. Ses interprétations de
Brünnhilde (Siegfried ) au Lyric Opera de
Chicago, ses prestations dans le Ring intégral
donné ensuite dans ce même théâtre, sous la
direction de Riccardo Muti à La Scala de
Milan, à San Francisco et à Vienne lui ont valu
également les critiques les plus enthousiastes.
Auparavant, elle chanta le rôle de Brünnhilde à
l’Opera Pacific et au Scottish Opera. Son
succés dans le rôle-titre de Norma au Scottish
Opera (dans une production soutenue par la
Peter Moores Foundation) fut suivi par des
interprétations acclamées par la critique au
Festival de Ravenne avec Muti, à l’Opéra de
Seattle, à l’Opéra de Los Angeles, à l’OpéraBastille à Paris, et au Scottish Opera.
Parmi d’autres interprétations mémorables de
Jane Eaglen, on citera Isolde à Seattle, reprise au
Metropolitan Opera de New York et au Lyric
Opera de Chicago et recevant chaque fois des
critiques extraordinaires; ses débuts dans le rôle
de La Giaconda au Lyric Opera de Chicago;
Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) au Metropolitan
Opera – précédemment chantè au Staatsoper de
Vienne, à Los Angeles, à Munich et à Bologne;
le rôle titre dans Turandot au Royal Opera de
Covent Garden à Londres, au Metropolitan
Opera de New York aux côtés de Pavarotti, à
Vienne, Madrid, Seattle, Bologne et à l’OpéraBastille à Paris; Amelia (Un ballo in maschera)
à Bologne et à l’Opéra-Bastille; le rôle titre dans
Tosca à l’English National Opera, au Teatro
Colon à Buenos Aires, et en version de concert
avec le Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; et le
rôle titre dans Ariadne auf Naxos à l’English
National Opera.
Egalement familière des salles de concert,
Jane Eaglen s’est produite dans le Requiem de
Verdi avec Simon Rattle et City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; dans la
Huitième Symphonie de Mahler avec Klaus
Tennstedt; dans l’Acte III de Götterdämmerung
avec Bernard Haitink et le Boston Symphony
Orchestra; dans Nabucco à Ravenne avec
Riccaro Muti; dans les Gurrelieder avec
Claudio Abbado au Festival de Salzbourg et au
Festival d’Edimbourg; dans Norma au Festival
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de Tivoli à Copenhague et au Carnegie Hall
de New York; et dans les Quatre derniers lieder
de Strauss avec Daniel Barenboim et le
Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Parmi les enregistrements de Jane Eaglen, on
citera un disque d’arias de Wagner et de Bellini,
un autre consacré à des arias de Strauss et de
Mozart, la Huitième Symphonie de Mahler, la
Neuvième Symphonie de Beethoven, la Messe
de Bruckner, Norma, Medea in Corinto pour
Opera Rara, et pour Chandos et la Peter
Moores Foundation l’enregistrement primé de
Tosca ainsi qu’un enregistrement de Turandot.
Elle figure également sur la bande sonore de
l’adaptation pour le cinéma de Sense and
Sensibility de Jane Austin.
Maddalena (Andrea Chénier) avec Jose
Carreras, et dans Aïda avec Luciano Pavarotti.
Rosalind Plowright s’est produite dans la
plupart des plus grandes salles lyriques du
monde, chantant des rôles tels que Suor
Angelica (La Scala de Milan), Leonora dans
Il trovatore (Vérone), Stiffelio (La Fenice de
Venise), Ariadne et Medea (Opéra Bastille à
Paris), Medea (Royal Opera de Covent
Garden), Desdemona et Amelia (Staatsoper de
Vienne), Madama Butterfly (Houston Grand
Opera), et Santuzza (Staatsoper de Berlin). A
l’English National Opera, Rosalind Plowright
a chanté dans Otello, Mary Stuart, The Turn of
the Screw (pour lequel elle remporta un Olivier
Award ) et Il tabarro de Puccini. Parmi ses
enregistrements figurent Elijah de
Mendelssohn (pour Chandos), Les Contes
d’Hoffmann d’Offenbach, Il trovatore de Verdi,
et (pour Chandos et la Peter Moores
Foundation) Mary Stuart et Otello.
Rosalind Plowright a mené une carrière
particulièrement remarquable. Elle fit ses
études musicales au Royal Northern College of
Music de Manchester et au London Opera
Centre, remportant la bourse de la Peter
Moores Foundation et la bourse Peter
Stuyvesant. Son enregistrement en 1984 du
rôle de Leonora (Il trovatore), avec Placido
Domingo sous la direction de Carlo Maria
Giulini, fut sélectionné pour un Grammy
Award. La même année, elle fit ses débuts au
Royal Opera de Covent Garden dans le rôle de
Né au Pays de Galles de parents irlandais et
gallois, Dennis O’Neill est un des plus grands
ténors du monde, et un spécialiste des œuvres
de Verdi. Il a entretenu une longue association
avec le Royal Opera de Covent Garden à
Londres où ses nombreux rôles ont inclus
Rodolfo (La Bohème), le Duc (Rigoletto),
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Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia
di Lammermoor), Macduff (Macbeth), Gustavo
(Un ballo in maschera), Foresto (Attila), Otello,
Don Carlos, Radames (Aïda), Aroldo (en
version de concert), Carlo (Giovanna d’Arco),
et Jacopo (I due Foscari).
Aux Etats-Unis, Dennis O’Neill s’est
produit au Metropolitan Opera de New York
dans le rôle d’Alfredo (La traviata), Radames
(Aida), Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) et Canio
(Pagliacci). Il a également chanté au Chicago
Lyric Opera, à San Francisco, à San Diego, à
l’Opéra de Vancouver; il a donné des concerts
avec les orchestres de Philadelphie, Cleveland,
Montréal, Ottawa, et au Festival de
Cincinnati. Souvent invité à se produire au
Bayerische Staatsoper de Munich, ses débuts
dans Un ballo in maschera furent suivis par une
nouvelle production de Il trovatore, ainsi que
par Der Rosenkavalier, Tosca, Lucia di
Lammermoor, Simon Boccanegra, Aïda et le rôle
titre dans Otello. Dennis O’Neill a par ailleurs
chanté dans les théâtres lyriques de Vienne,
Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Hambourg, Munich,
Nice, Zurich, Paris, Oslo, Bruxelles, Barcelone,
Lisbonne, Oviedo, dans les Arènes de Vérone,
à Turin, et à l’English National Opera. Il
entretient des liens étroits avec le Welsh
National Opera.
Dennis O’Neill donne également de
nombreux concerts, et s’est ainsi produit à
travers toute l’Europe. Ses propres séries pour
la BBC Television ont été très populaires, et il
a ensuite terminé un film télévisé consacré à
Caruso. Parmi ses enregistrements pour
Chandos et la Peter Moores Foundation
figurent Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Tosca,
La Bohème, Il trovatore, et un disque de
Grands airs d’opéra. En l’an 2000, Dennis
O’Neill a été décoré du titre de commandeur
de l’Ordre de l’empire britannique (CBE).
Gregory Yurisich est aujourd’hui reconnu
comme l’un des plus grands barytons du
monde. Ses récentes interprétations des grands
rôles verdiens lui ont valu les louanges très
enthousiastes de la critique. Parmi celles-ci
figurent Nabucco au Festival de Bregenz, au
Royal Opera de Covent Garden et à Genève;
le rôle titre dans Rigoletto en Israël, en
Australie et à Athènes; le rôle titre dans Simon
Boccanegra, et Escamillo (Carmen) à l’English
National Opera; le rôle titre dans Falstaff en
Australie; Germont Père (La traviata) à
l’Opéra de San Francisco, à l’Australian Opera,
à Tel-Aviv et à Genève; Iago (Otello) avec
Placido Domingo à l’Opéra de Los Angeles et
à Brisbane; Amonasro (Aida), Stankar
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(Stiffelio), Scarpia (Tosca), les quatre
incarnations du mauvais génie d’Hoffmann
(Les Contes d’Hoffmann), et le rôle titre dans
Guillaume Tell au Royal Opera de Covent
Garden. Parmi les autres rôles inscrits à son
répertoire figurent Sharpless (Madama
Butterfly) à l’Australian Opera; Balstrode
(Peter Grimes) au Châtelet à Paris et au
Théâtre de La Monnaie à Bruxelles; Alfio
(Cavalleria rusticana) et Tonio (Pagliacci) pour
ses débuts au Staatsoper de Berlin.
Gregory Yurisich s’est produit en concert
dans de nombreuses salles du monde entier,
notamment dans la Huitième Symphonie de
Mahler au Festival d’Edimbourg; dans le rôle
d’Alberich (Siegfried ) en version de concert,
dans le rôle de Salieri (Mozart et Salieri de
Rimski-Korsakov), et dans la Neuvième
Symphonie de Beethoven pour le réseau
ABC Television en Australie.
Parmi ses enregistrements, on citera le rôle
de Leporello (Don Giovanni), un album solo
consacré à des mélodies de Peter Dawson, et
pour Chandos et la Peter Moores Foundation,
le rôle de Scarpia (Tosca) et celui de Sharpless
(Madam Butterfly).
Alastair Miles s’est produit au Metropolitan
Opera de New York (Giorgio dans I Puritani
et Raimondo dans Lucia di Lammermoor); à
l’Opéra National de Paris-Bastille (Raimondo);
à Vienne (La Juive et Giorgio); à San Francisco
(Giorgio, Raimondo et Basilio dans Il barbiere
di Siviglia); à Amsterdam (Figaro dans
Le nozze di Figaro); au Teatro Real de Madrid
(Philip II dans Don Carlos); à l’English
National Opera (le rôle titre dans
Mephistopheles, Zaccaria dans Nabucco), et au
Royal Opera de Covent Garden (Elmiro dans
Otello et Frère Laurent dans Roméo et Juliette).
Son premier Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) fut un
grand succès, et vient après d’autres
interprétations verdiennes qui lui valurent les
mêmes louanges.
Alastair Miles mène avec grand succès une
carrière internationale en concert, se
produisant avec des chefs aussi éminents que
Giulini, Mehta, Chung, Masur, Gergiev,
Gardiner et avec les plus prestigieux orchestres
du monde. Son impressionnante discographie,
qui compte actuellement quarante-deux titres,
inclut Elijah de Mendelssohn, le Requiem de
Verdi, Saul et Agrippina de Haendel. En l’an
2000, il fit ses débuts en récital en GrandeBretagne avec Roger Vignoles. Parmi ses
autres enregistrements, on peut citer Faust,
Salué dans le monde entier comme l’un des
plus grands chanteurs britanniques,
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La Bohème et un album recital (Great Operatic
Arias) pour Chandos et la Peter Moores
Foundation, et dans la série Opera Rara,
Medea in Corinto, Orazi e Curiazi, Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra, Ricciardo e Zoraide et Maria
regina d’Inghilterra.
Ramfis, Daland et Ochs au Metropolitan
Opera de New York; et d’autres rôles au
Staatsoper de Vienne, au Deutsche Staatsoper
de Berlin, à l’Opéra d’Etat de Hambourg, à
Amsterdam, au Festival d’Istanbul et au
Festival de Bregenz.
En concert, Peter Rose s’est produit dans la
Neuvième Symphonie de Beethoven avec
Carlo Maria Giulini; dans le Requiem de
Mozart avec Daniel Barenboim et Zubin
Mehta; dans la Huitième Symphonie de
Mahler avec Tilson Thomas au Royal Albert
Hall de Londres; dans le Requiem de Verdi
au Barbican Centre de Londres; dans
La Damnation de Faust avec le Chicago
Symphony Orchestra sous la direction de
Sir Georg Solti; dans L’Enfant et les sortilèges et
L’Heure espagnole de Ravel avec le Cleveland
Orchestra sous la direction de Pierre Boulez; et
dans la Missa Solemnis de Beethoven avec le
New York Philharmonic sous la direction de
Kurt Masur.
Parmi les titres de sa discographie, on
citera Le nozze di Figaro, Die sieben
Todesünden, Salome, Un ballo in maschera;
pour Chandos et la Peter Moores
Foundation, Ernani, Il barbiere di Siviglia,
Tosca et un enregistrement de Lucia di
Lammermoor.
Né à Cantorbéry, Peter Rose a étudié la
musique à l’Université d’East Anglia, et avec
Ellis Keeler à la Guildhall School of Music and
Drama de Londres. En 1985, il remporta le
Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship, et en
1986 le Glyndebourne John Christie Award. Il
fit ses débuts à l’opéra en 1986 dans le rôle du
Commandeur avec le Glyndebourne Festival
Opera à Hong Kong. Il fut basse principale au
Welsh National Opera de 1986 à 1989, et fit
ses débuts au Royal Opera de Covent Garden
dans le rôle de Rochefort (Anna Bolena) avec
Dame Joan Sutherland.
Parmi les rôles de son répertoire figurent
Ramfis (Aïda), Fasolt (Das Rheingold ),
Cadmus/Somnus (Semele), Daland (Der
fliegende Holländer), le Roi Mark (Tristan und
Isolde) et le Commandeur (Don Giovanni) au
Royal Opera de Covent Garden; Gessler
(Guillaume Tell ), le Commandeur et Basilio
(Il barbiere di Siviglia) à San Francisco; Kecal
(La Fiancée vendue) au Chicago Lyric Opera;
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Lauréate du Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Prize
1994, Susan Gritton a étudié la botanique à
l’Université d’Oxford et à l’Université de
Londres avant d’entreprendre une carrière de
chanteuse. En 1994, elle fit ses début en récital
au Wigmore Hall de Londres. Elle se produit
régulièrement en récital à travers l’Angleterre,
et sa grande expérience de concertiste l’a
conduite au Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam, au
Konzerthaus de Vienne et à la Philharmonie
de Berlin.
A l’opéra, Susan Gritton a incarné les rôles
de Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) et Zerlina
(Don Giovanni) au Festival de Glyndebourne
et avec le Glyndebourne Touring Opera; la
Gouvernante (The Turn of the Screw) et Lucia
(The Rape of Lucretia) sous la direction de
Steuart Bedford à Snape Maltings; Tiny (Paul
Bunyan) au Royal Opera de Covent Garden;
Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) au Deutsche
Staatsoper de Berlin; Fulvia dans Ezio de
Handel avec le King’s Consort au Théâtre des
Champs Elysées à Paris; Marzelline (Fidelio) à
l’Opéra de Rome, et Romilda (Xerxes) au
Bayerische Staatsoper. A l’English National
Opera, où elle est “Company Principal”, ses
rôles incluent Atalanta (Xerxes), Constance
(The Carmelites), Pamina (The Magic Flute),
Drusilla (The Coronation of Poppea), Nannetta
(Falstaff ), et le rôle titre dans Le Petit Renard
rusé.
Parmi les enregistrements de Susan Gritton
pour Chandos figurent Paul Bunyan, The
Pilgrim’s Progress, Sir John in Love, Paulus de
Mendelssohn, plusieurs disques consacrés à des
Messes de Haydn, et un enregistrement de
Falstaff (pour Chandos et la Peter Moores
Foundation)
Né dans le Lancashire, Alfred Boe commença
ses études musicales après une tournée
nationale avec la D’Oyly Carte Opera
Company en 1994. Il étudia avec Neil Mackie
au Royal College of Music de Londres, et il a
récemment terminé ses études au National
Opera Studio à Londres.
Il a chanté dans des oratorios tels que la
Messa di Gloria de Puccini, Elijah de
Mendelssohn, le Requiem de Verdi, la Petite
Messe solennelle et le Stabat Mater de Rossini.
A l’opéra, Alfred Boe a incarné le rôle de
Roderigo (Otello) et le rôle titre dans Albert
Herring de Britten.
En 1999, Alfred Boe s’est de nouveau
produit avec la D’Oyly Carte Opera
Company, cette fois-ci dans le rôle de Ralph
Rackstraw (HMS Pinafore) au Royal Festival
Hall de Londres. Il a également chanté
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Ernesto (Don Pasquale) avec le Scottish OperaGo-Round. Parmi d’autres rôles figurent
Roderigo (Otello) au Théâtre de La Monnaie
à Bruxelles, Ferrando et Nanki-Poo
(The Mikado) avec le Grange Park Opera, et
Rodolfo (La Bohème) avec le Glyndebourne
Touring Opera. Il est l’un des premiers
chanteurs a recevoir une place dans le Vilar
Young Artists Programme au Royal Opera de
Covent Garden.
série de disques très prisés financée par la Peter
Moores Foundation.
Depuis ses excellents débuts en 1945, lorsqu’il
fut fondé par Walter Legge essentiellement
pour jouer dans des enregistrements, le
Philharmonia Orchestra n’a cessé d’attirer
certains des plus grands chefs d’orchestre du
XXe siècle. Certains furent associés de près à
l’Orchestre: Otto Klemperer (son tout premier
chef principal), Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti,
Giuseppe Sinopoli, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir
Andrew Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy et EsaPekka Salonen. Sous la direction de leur chef
principal actuel, Christoph von Dohnanyi, et
celle de Leonard Slatkin, souvent invité à
prendre sa relève, l’Orchestre s’est fermement
installé au cœur de la vie musicale britannique,
non seulement à Londres puisqu’il est
orchestre en résidence au Royal Festival Hall,
mais aussi en province où il se produit
régulièrement.
Le Philharmonia Orchestra a remporté
plusieurs prix importants et soulevé
l’enthousiasme des critiques pour la vitalité et
la chaleur exceptionnelle de son jeu. On a
aussi fait l’éloge de ses programmes novateurs
dans lesquels l’ensemble s’engage à interpréter
et commander des œuvres nouvelles par les
Durant sa carrière de chanteur, Geoffrey
Mitchell aborda un répertoire
remarquablement varié, depuis la musique
ancienne jusqu’à la musique contemporaine, se
produisant en Scandinavie, en Allemagne,
dans l’ancienne Tchécoslovaquie, au Canada et
en Australasie. Après avoir fait ses premières
armes de chef d’orchestre avec la BBC, il
décida de prendre une part active dans ce
domaine avec ses propres chanteurs et fonda le
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir. L’ensemble travaille
depuis longtemps avec Opera Rara pour qui il
a réalisé plus de trente enregistrements. Ce
Chœur ne cesse d’élargir sa réputation,
travaillant avec la BBC et plusieurs maisons de
disques internationales. Pour Chandos, le
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir a participé à plusieurs
enregistrements pour Opera in English, une
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plus grands compositeurs contemporains,
comme James MacMillan, son actuel
compositeur en résidence.
L’Orchestre fait souvent des tournées
internationales; aucun autre orchestre
symphonique dans le monde ne possède une
discographie aussi importante, avec plus de
mille disques à son actif. Notons entre autres
plusieurs disques d’airs d’opéra pour Opera
Rara ainsi que onze intégrales d’opéras (Ugo,
conte di Parigi, Ne m’oubliez pas, Emilia di
Liverpool, L’assedio di Calais, Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra et Maria de Rudenz de Donizetti,
Dinorah de Meyerbeer, Medea in Corinto de
Mayr, Orazi e Curiazi de Mercadante, Maria,
regina d’Inghilterra de Pacini et Otello de
Rossini). L’Orchestre a fait de nombreux
disques pour Chandos, en particulier, dans la
série Opera in English financée par la Peter
Moores Foundation, L’elisir d’amore, Faust,
La bohème, cette version primée de Tosca et
six récitals solistes d’airs d’opéra (avec Bruce
Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny et John
Tomlinson.)
avec l’English Music Theatre avant de devenir
l’un des chefs d’orchestre au Städtische
Bühnen à Dortmund et à Opera North.
Directeur musical d’Opera 80 de 1983 à 1987,
il est directeur musical d’Almeida Opera
depuis sa fondation en 1992.
Sa carrière, nationale et internationale, est
extrêmement remplie, aussi bien sur la scène
lyrique qu’en concert. Il a dirigé plusieurs
productions de l’English National Opera et
collabore régulièrement avec le Philharmonia
Orchestra. C’est avec Così fan tutte qu’il fit ses
débuts au Festival de Glyndebourne en 1996,
une scène qu’il retrouva en 1998 pour diriger
la création mondiale de Flight de Jonathan
Dove.
Il séjourne fréquemment en Espagne où il a
dirigé en concert la plupart des grands
orchestres espagnols. C’est lui qui dirigea la
première espagnole de Peter Grimes à Madrid et
en 1996 la première production espagnole de
The Rake’s Progress. Il a dirigé en Allemagne, en
Suède, aux Pays-Bas, au Festival de Pesaro en
Italie, au Festival international de Hong-Kong,
au Japon pour une tournée de Carmen et au
Mexique avec l’Orchestre symphonique
d’UNAM. Il a récemment dirigé plusieurs
nouvelles productions dont Fidelio au Festival
de Nouvelle-Zélande, Maria Stuarda au
Après avoir étudié avec Sergiu Celibidache,
David Parry commença sa carrière comme
assistant de Sir John Pritchard. Il fit ses débuts
64
Théâtre de Bâle et Lucia di Lammermoor avec
le New Israeli Opera.
En studio, il a participé entre autres à la
production de la BBC Television de Der
Vampyr de Marschner, dirigeant aussi vingt
et une intégrales d’opéras financées par la
Peter Moores Foundation. Plusieurs de ces
intégrales furent enregistrées pour Opera Rara
et primées, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra de
Donizetti recevant en Belgique le Prix Cecilia.
Pour Chandos, Parry a dirigé sept
enregistrements d’airs d’opéra (avec Bruce
Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny, John
Tomlinson et Della Jones) de même que
Don Giovanni, Ernani, Faust, Don Pasquale,
L’elisir d’amore, La bohème, Cavalleria
rusticana, Pagliacci, l’enregistrement primé de
Tosca et des extraits de Der Rosenkavalier, tous
ces enregistrements étant réalisés en
collaboration avec la Peter Moores
Foundation.
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Gregory Yurisich as Amonasro in
The Royal Opera’s production of Aida
Dennis O’Neill as Radames in
The Royal Opera’s production of Aida
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Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
“Tinta”: ecco una caratteristica essenziale nelle
opere della maturità di Verdi. Anzi, è la qualità
determinante della sua composizione operistica.
Una qualità che Verdi ha in comune con Britten
e pochi altri, e uno dei fattori che rendono
entrambi questi musicisti grandi creatori del
genere. Ogni opera di Verdi ha una tinta che la
caratterizza come nessun’altra. Questo vale
soprattutto per Aida (1871, composta per
l’inaugurazione dell’Opera del Cairo).
Fin dalle prime battute del Preludio (dopo la
prima Verdi compose un’Ouverture, ma la
scartò immediatamente considerandola inferiore
a quanto aveva già creato) veniamo trasportati
nell’atmosfera misteriosa e profumata
dell’antico Egitto e nel suo mondo di lealtà
conflittuali, intransigenza sacerdotale e passione.
Il tema cromatico, introdotto dagli archi alti,
che sarà il motivo di Aida, e l’idea lievemente
sinistra, sviluppata con tecnica
contrappuntistica, che sarà legata ai Sacerdoti,
stabiliscono l’atmosfera del dramma che sta per
svolgersi. Tutto questo, oltre al materiale
melodico e ritmico che seguirà, appartiene
esclusivamente al colore e all’atmosfera di Aida.
Aida è un’opera unica anche sotto un altro
aspetto. Qui, anche più che nel Don Carlos,
composto non molto prima e con una tinta
molto diversa, alla politica e al cerimoniale
pubblico si contrappongono alcuni conflitti
privati. La genialità di Verdi sta nell’introdurre
immediatamente nel dramma entrambi gli
elementi. Nella primissima scena il generale
egiziano Radames per la prima volta è
combattuto da un conflitto interiore tra il
dovere nei confronti della patria e l’amore per
la schiava etiope Aida, e la principessa Amneris
si rende conto che Aida è sua rivale in amore.
Quando viene annunciata un’invasione etiope
guidata dal padre di Aida, Amonasro, e il re
egiziano proclama Radames condottiero della
lotta contro il nemico, i confronti tra pubblico
e privato sono veramente avviati. Vengono
messi in rilievo dall’assolo di Aida “Ritorna
vincitor” (As victor then return), in cui le
emozioni contrastanti, l’affetto per il padre e
l’amore per Radames sono definiti in maniera
infallibile. Il fatto che aspetti tanto importanti
e pertinenti allo sviluppo della trama possano
essere delineati in un brano musicale
relativamente breve rappresenta un’altra
sfaccettatura delle capacità di Verdi.
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Questa scena inoltre stabilisce il ritmo e la
struttura dell’opera in generale. Il ritmo è
dettato da alcuni eventi fuori scena. Sul fronte
pubblico, la battaglia vinta da Radames; su
quello privato, gli intrighi della gelosa
Amneris, culminanti nel faccia a faccia con
Aida sulla scena, dove, con mezzi subdoli, la
principessa riesce a carpire alla schiava una
confessione del proprio amore segreto per
Radames. Questa scena a sua volta fa da
preludio al grande cerimoniale del trionfo che
inizialmente rese Aida famosa e che contiene
proprio tutto: un coro magnifico, danze
ispiratrici, tanto colore locale con gli squilli
delle famose trombe “egiziane” e altri
espedienti strumentali che portano all’ingresso
trionfale di Radames, poi all’apparizione dei
prigionieri etiopi. A questo punto,
improvvisamente, si ritorna alle questioni
private. Amonasro sussurra alla figlia Aida di
non rivelare la sua vera identità di sovrano
etiope; quindi descrive la sua sconfitta in
battaglia e chiede clemenza. Aida appoggia la
richiesta del padre; i Sacerdoti esprimono un
vigoroso dissenso.
Tutto questo si svolge con magistrale
tempismo, come l’enorme insieme seguente in
cui il compositore sfoggia la propria abilità di
abbinare complessi motivi solistici contro uno
sfondo corale, che culmina in un toccante
momento solistico per Aida. Il re egiziano
quindi concede a Radames la mano di sua
figlia Amneris in premio per la vittoria.
Dopo la magniloquenza di questa scena alle
porte di Tebe, gli ultimi due atti si svolgono in
circostanze più limitate e consistono
largamente in duetti per i quattro protagonisti.
Inoltre confermano che, mentre i personaggi
di Aida, Radames e Amonasro rimangono
quasi immutati dalle circostanze, quello di
Amneris si modifica notevolmente. In questi
brani Verdi raggiunge il culmine
dell’ispirazione. I duetti sono accompagnati da
due passaggi solistici in cui Aida e Amneris
rispettivamente esaminano a fondo il proprio
stato emotivo e dimostrano l’infallibilità del
compositore nel rivelare i loro più profondi
sentimenti.
Il Terzo atto inizia con un altro colpo di
genio dell’autore. Su uno sfondo di musica
delicatamente ondeggiante che evoca il Nilo e
un coro fuori scena, Amneris e Ramfis sbarcano
ed entrano in un tempio a pregare. Aida sbuca
dall’oscurità e canta la romanza
“O patria mia” (Oh, dearest home), tarda e
ispirata aggiunta alla partitura, che illustra la sua
nostalgia per la patria in una combinazione
fluida di recitativo e aria, con un
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accompagnamento agitato che illustra il suo
stato d’animo turbato ma riflessivo. Inoltre è
una meravigliosa opportunità per un soprano
lirico-drammatico di fare sfoggio delle proprie
qualità in termini di respiro e inflessioni tonali.
La scena successiva con il padre abbina
ancora una volta con discrezione passaggi di
parlando con esplosioni liriche. Verdi è ormai
completamente libero dai legami formali
imposti dall’opera italiana prima del suo
tempo, che avevano limitato la sua prospettiva
nelle prime opere. Gli assolo sono a servizio
delle esigenze del dramma, non del cantante,
eppure in un certo senso richiedono più
dall’interprete rispetto a quelli di vecchia
maniera. Facendo leva sui pensieri d’amore di
Aida per il suo uomo e la sua fedeltà alla
patria, Amonasro le ricorda dolorosamente che
il dovere e il patriottismo devono venire prima
dei desideri personali. Con il suo modo di
plasmare l’obiettivo deciso di Amonasro in
contrapposizione con il conflitto emotivo della
figlia, Verdi dimostra di essere al culmine dei
suoi poteri in termini di padronanza musicale
e di penetrazione psicologica nei confronti dei
suoi personaggi.
Nell’inevitabile scena successiva, Aida adesso
gioca sulle emozioni di Radames come aveva
fatto Amonasro con lei. Le manifestazioni
appassionate del giovane, sintomo del fatto che
l’uomo è in suo potere, consentono ad Aida di
convincerlo, in un passaggio di musica
estremamente seducente, iniziando con
“Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti” (We’d leave this
white oppressive heat), a prendere in
considerazione una fuga con lei, lontano dagli
orrori della guerra, alla volta di una terra di
piacere e d’amore. Per convincerlo
ulteriormente, lei lo accusa addirittura di non
amarla abbastanza. In un passaggio di
rinnovato ardore, il guerriero accetta il suo
suggerimento e insieme cantano una cabaletta
appassionata (un tempo questa era la sezione
rapida conclusiva di ogni aria convenzionale),
che termina bruscamente quando la donna
riesce a farsi rivelare l’itinerario dell’esercito.
L’abilità del compositore di sviluppare in
maniera avvincente la trama attraverso la
musica viene confermata quando Amonasro
emerge dalle ombre trionfante. Prima che
possano fuggire, vengono uditi da Amneris
che, come abbiamo notato, stava pregando nel
tempio adiacente, e Radames si lascia arrestare
con un’esclamazione di estrema disperazione.
Secondo alcuni commentatori, l’opera si
sarebbe dovuta intitolare Amneris: nelle mani
di un bravo mezzosoprano, questo è un ruolo
da assaporare, pieno di una grande varietà di
70
musica alla maniera più grandiosa di Verdi e
culmina nella prima scena dell’Atto IV, che
praticamente appartiene a questo personaggio.
Ho sentito molte famose interpreti far crollare
il teatro dagli applausi alla sua conclusione, un
omaggio tanto alla superba opera del
compositore quanto alle doti della cantante.
Sebbene Radames sia stato condannato a
morte, Amneris decide di salvarlo, a
condizione che dimentichi Aida. L’ampio
arioso in cui medita sulla propria decisione è
scritto con tutta l’attenzione di Verdi per
l’abbinamento tra parole e musica. Chiede che
il prigioniero Radames sia portato al suo
cospetto: qualunque Amneris che si rispetti
può esercitare un’autorità completa con la sola
parola “Guardie” (Soldiers). Segue un’altra
avvincente scena a due. In un passaggio
declamatorio, simile per mezzosoprano e
tenore, la principessa supplica Radames di
difendersi; l’uomo rifiuta recisamente,
dichiarando che la vita non ha più niente per
lui. In uno straziante brano lirico “Ah! tu dei
vivere” (Ah! You must live), Amneris dichiara
appassionatamente il proprio amore, ma la
reazione alle sue suppliche è ancora una volta
negativa. Solo quando rivela che Aida è ancora
viva e Radames manifesta la propria gioia,
Amneris perde la pazienza ed esplode in una
furia gelosa. Questo meraviglioso duetto è un
vero simbolo del grand opéra: due personaggi
che ribadiscono la loro posizione, in genere da
parti opposte della scena, con completa
convinzione, separati da un abisso psicologico
e materiale.
La scena del processo di Radames davanti ai
sacerdoti è forse la più originale dell’intera
opera. Mentre inizia il giudizio, Amneris sfoga
il suo dolore in lontananza. Dopo una solenne
preghiera, i sacerdoti emettono una condanna
in tre parti e chiedono al prigioniero di
discolparsi, ogni volta un semitono più alto,
un tocco magistrale di Verdi. Radames rimane
in silenzio e ogni volta Amneris emette un
grido sempre più disperato. I Sacerdoti quindi
pronunciano la sentenza: Radames sarà
seppellito vivo. Tutte le esclamazioni di
Amneris per chiedere grazia, mentre si aggira
furtivamente sulla scena, vengono ignorate
dagli implacabili ministri dell’odio che
ripetono la loro ingiunzione “Traditor!”
(He shall die!). Amneris finisce per maledirli:
“Empia razza! Anatema su voi!” (Evil vipers,
may you all be accurs’d). Qualunque cosa
possa essere accaduta prima, non ho mai visto
la scena mancare il bersaglio, prova sufficiente
della padronanza di Verdi sul suo materiale in
questo stadio maturo della propria carriera.
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Ci si chiede in teatro se il finale non possa
essere altro che un anticlimax. Ma Verdi, da
vero esperto, sa cosa fare: comporre una breve,
intima scena d’addio al mondo, cioè l’antitesi
di quello che è accaduto prima. Mentre
Radames medita sul proprio amore per Aida,
gli sembra di scorgere una visione; si tratta
però della sua innamorata che si è introdotta
furtivamente nella tomba per condividere il
suo destino. Sono scomparsi la grandiosità e i
voltafaccia selvaggi della passione; al loro posto
troviamo una dichiarazione di vero amore
raffinata, quasi ultraterrena, in forma
tripartita, preceduta da “Morir! si pur e
bella” (To die! So pure and lovely!) di
Radames, una dichiarazione alta e lamentosa,
ma dignitosa del suo dolore al pensiero
della prossima morte di Aida. Come sempre,
Verdi si è calato infallibilmente nei sentimenti
di uno dei suoi protagonisti. Si tratta di un
brano di pura bellezza lirica, ineffabilmente
triste anche. La risposta di Aida, così eterea
nella sua forma, fa pensare che sia già vicina
al paradiso.
Infine, accompagnata da una cantilena
dall’alto, un tocco di pura ispirazione, la
coppia dà l’addio al mondo innalzando una
melodia armoniosa di estrema semplicità,
“O terra addio” (Farewell, oh life), che
ciascuno canta prima da solo e poi
insieme all’unisono. L’intensa tragedia
finale è sottolineata dall’intervento di Amneris
che, in alto, inginocchiata, implora pace
per le anime della coppia nella caverna
sotto di lei.
Aida si colloca tra i capolavori del terzo
periodo della produzione verdiana – la
revisione di Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in
maschera, La forza del destino e Don Carlos –
e il periodo finale dei capolavori
shakespeariani, Otello e Falstaff. Conserva
l’immensa energia e l’ampia portata delle
quattro opere precedenti (anche se il suo
concetto non è originale come quello del
Don Carlos), mentre prelude in parte alla
maggiore economia delle due ultime opere.
Soprattutto somiglia, e non sorprende, alla
flessibilità, al respiro melodico e alla forza
drammatica del Requiem, che seguì Aida dopo
tre anni. Fin dalla sua nascita, quest’opera ha
mantenuto intatta la propria popolarità. Il
fatto che oggi non venga rappresentata spesso
come nel passato recente è dovuto alle
difficoltà nella scelta dei cinque ruoli
principali e alle spese che comporta un buon
allestimento teatrale.
© 2002 Alan Blyth
72
La trama
L’opera si svolge nell’antico Egitto all’epoca dei
Faraoni. Il controllo del governo è in mano ai
sacerdoti, i soli in grado di interpretare la
volontà degli dei. L’Egitto e l’Etiopia, paese
confinante con esso a sud, sono da tempo in
guerra; i prigionieri etiopi vengono venduti
regolarmente nei mercati egiziani degli schiavi.
L’unica figlia del Faraone, Amneris, ha una
schiava etiope, Aida, ma ignora che si tratti
della figlia del re di Etiopia, Amonasro.
Amneris è segretamente innamorata di
Radamès, nobile e promettente ufficiale
dell’esercito reale. Radamès, invece, è
innamorato di Aida, che lo ricambia.
potrebbe avere tutto ciò che desidera.
5 A interrompere le sue riflessioni arriva la
principessa Amneris con Aida. 6 – 7 Alla
vista di quest’ultima, Radamès non può
impedirsi di trasalire e questo avverte Amneris
che i suoi sospetti sono fondati: Aida è
l’oggetto del suo affetto. Aida pensa solo al suo
amore per Radamès e alla difficoltà della sua
posizione di schiava.
8 Entra il Faraone, che riunisce i nobili,
il popolo e i sacerdoti. Entra un messaggero
latore di notizie preoccupanti: gli Etiopi
marciano su Tebe guidati dal re Amonasro
(Aida, a parte, “My father”). Il faraone
annuncia che Iside ha scelto Radamès
come generale 9 e guida il suo popolo
in un inno di battaglia, che termina con
l’esortazione “As victor then return” a
Radamès, un’esclamazione che Aida, nella
sua confusione, pronuncia anche lei.
10 – 11 Rimasta sola, tuttavia, la donna è
combattuta tra due sentimenti inconciliabili –
l’amore per il padre e per la patria e quello per
Radames – 12 e prega gli dei perché abbiano
pietà di lei.
Atto I scena 2 il tempio di Vulcano a
Menfi. 13 – 14 Un gruppo di sacerdoti e
sacerdotesse esegue danze rituali e canta
invocazioni a Fthà. 15 Ramfis chiede al
COMPACT DISC ONE
Atto I scena 1. Dopo un breve preludio ( 1 ),
il sipario si alza su una Sala nel palazzo del
Faraone a Menfi, capitale dell’Egitto.
2 Radamès e l’Alto sacerdote Ramfis parlano
di una nuova invasione degli Etiopi. Ramfis
dichiara che la dea ha scelto un generale e che
lui sta andando a rivelarne il nome al Faraone.
3 – 4 Rimasto solo, Radames si augura di
essere il guerriero prescelto. In tal modo
potrebbe avverarsi il suo sogno di condurre
l’esercito alla vittoria; inoltre, come vincitore
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25 La popolazione è riunita per festeggiare il
trionfo. Il faraone entra e siede sul trono,
circondato dalla corte, e Amneris prende
posto accanto a lui con Aida ai suoi piedi.
26 – 27 Gli eserciti sfilano davanti a loro e
alcune fanciulle danzano con i trofei di guerra.
Sfilano anche i simulacri degli dei, 28 e infine
entra Radamès sotto un baldacchino
trasportato da dodici ufficiali.
29 Il faraone saluta il generale, Salvatore
della Patria e gli offre in premio qualunque
cosa desideri. Il generale Radamès chiede che
vengano condotti i prigionieri di guerra.
30 Mentre essi entrano, Aida riconosce suo
padre e si precipita ad abbracciarlo, ma lui le
fa cenno di non tradire il suo segreto. Il
faraone gli ordina di farsi avanti e identificarsi.
31 L’uomo risponde semplicemente di essere il
padre di Aida e di aver combattuto per il suo
re e per la patria, ma il re è caduto e la patria è
stata sconfitta. Chiede clemenza al Faraone. Il
popolo, profondamente commosso, appoggia
la supplica. 32 Radamès chiede al Faraone di
concedergli in ricompensa la libertà dei
prigionieri e degli schiavi etiopi. Ramfis si
dichiara contrario: gli Etiopi inizieranno
un’altra guerra. Radamès ribatte che la morte
di re Amonasro è morto rende questo è
improbabile. Ramfis si accontenta di chiedere
generale Radamès di cingere la sacra spada.
16 Segue un’invocazione di tutti agli dei, per la
vittoria egiziana.
Atto II scena 1 l’appartamento privato della
principessa Amneris. Gli Etiopi sono stati
sconfitti. 17 – 18 Amneris e le sue ancelle si
preparano per i festeggiamenti del trionfo.
19 – 20 All’ingresso di Aida, la principessa
congeda la corte per esprimerle la propria
solidarietà in occasione della sconfitta della sua
patria. Per confermare i propri sospetti,
Amneris inoltre le comunica la falsa notizia
della morte di Radamès. 21 Quando Aida si
lascia sfuggire un’esclamazione, la principessa
ammette di aver mentito. Aida manifesta una
gioia irrefrenabile. Non ci sono più dubbi.
Amneris rivela ad Aida di essere sua rivale
nell’amore per Radames, ma lei è la figlia del
Faraone, mentre Aida è una schiava. A questo
punto l’etiope ha un moto d’orgoglio e sta per
lasciarsi sfuggire che anche lei è una
principessa, ma si trattiene in tempo, 22 e
chiede alla principessa di compatirla. 23 Tra le
acclamazioni della processione trionfale,
Amneris ordina ad Aida di seguirla e la sfida a
rivaleggiare con lei. 24 Aida rinnova le sue
preghiere agli dei chiedendo pietà.
Atto II scena 2. Il trionfo
Tebe: un viale davanti al tempo di Ammone.
74
che Aida, schiava preferita della principessa,
venga trattenuta come ostaggio, con il padre.
Il Faraone acconsente e dichiara che il suo
premio personale per Radamès è la mano della
principessa Amneris: con lei, il generale
regnerà un giorno sull’Egitto. 33 L’atto si
conclude tra la gioia di quasi tutti i presenti.
questo modo, però, le coorti egiziane saranno
libere di invadere l’Etiopia. 7 – 8 Amonasro
ripudia la figlia che si dimostra una semplice
schiava dei faraoni. Aida lo supplica di
perdonarla, ma intanto si avvicina Radamès.
Amonasro si nasconde per ascoltare la loro
conversazione.
9 Il generale Radamès entra
impetuosamente, felicissimo di rivedere Aida,
ma la donna lo interrompe. Ormai è il
promesso sposo della principessa Amneris.
10 Lui risponde che, dopo aver vinto la
seconda guerra, riuscirà a convincere il
Faraone. Aida si chiede chi la proteggerà dalla
principessa, 11 ma insinua che esiste un’altra
soluzione: fuggire insieme in Etiopia dove
potranno vivere finalmente insieme e amarsi
liberamente. Quando Radamès rifiuta, Aida
ribatte che in questo modo la scure si
abbatterà di lei e su suo padre. 12 L’uomo cede
e insieme progettano la fuga. Ma come fare a
evitare l’esercito egiziano? Radamès rivela ad
Aida dove saranno stanziate le truppe e a
questo punto appare Amonasro. Il generale gli
chiede chi è: “Aida’s father, Ethiopia’s King”, è
la risposta. 13 Solo adesso che conosce il
legame tra Aida e re Amonasro, Radames sa di
essere disonorato completamente. 14 La
principessa Amneris, che è uscita dal tempio e
COMPACT DISC TWO
Atto III: davanti al tempio di Iside sulle rive
del Nilo. È una notte di luna. 1 Dall’interno
si leva il cantico delle sacerdotesse. 2 Ramfis
ha condotto qui la principessa Amneris perché
trascorra la notte prima delle nozze in pio
raccoglimento.
3 – 4 Arriva Aida per un ultimo incontro
con Radamès, 5 ma viene interrotta dal
padre, ormai a conoscenza dell’appuntamento
segreto, dell’amore tra i due giovani e della
rivalità con la figlia del Faraone. Aida ammette
di essere alla mercè di Amneris, ma il padre
ribatte che è possibile sconfiggerla,
riconquistare la patria e l’amore del generale.
6 Gli Egiziani progettano un’offensiva e
devono essere fermati. Il modo migliore è
quello di prevenire il loro piano d’attacco.
“Who could ever discover?”, chiede la
fanciulla. “Aida!” “I! No, no, ah, no!” In
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ha osservato la scena, lo denuncia per
tradimento. Amonasro tenta di pugnalare la
principessa, ma Radamès glielo impedisce e gli
dice di fuggire portando via Aida; poi si
consegna ai sacerdoti.
Atto IV scena 1. Davanti alla Sala delle
sentenze. Radamès attende di essere processato
per tradimento. 15 – 16 La principessa chiede
che sia condotto da lei, ma il giovane, convinto
che Aida sia morta, non desidera più vivere.
17 – 19 Amneris gli dice che Amonasro è
morto, ma Aida è sparita. Rifiuta di rinunciare
al suo amore o di difendersi 20 – 21 e viene
condotto alla presenza dei sacerdoti, che lo
giudicano colpevole e lo condannano ad essere
sepolto vivo sotto l’altare di Vulcano. 22
Amneris li maledice mentre escono.
Atto IV scena 2. La scena è divisa in due
piani. 23 Sopra, il tempio di Vulcano, sotto, una
cripta sotterranea, su cui viene rotolata l’ultima
pietra. 24 Radamès si prepara a morire, ma si
rende conto di non essere solo. Aida si è nascosta
nella cripta per morire con lui. 25 Le
sacerdotesse cantano in lontananza. Mentre i due
innamorati affrontano serenamente la morte, la
principessa invoca la pace per le loro anime.
Jane Eaglen ha una reputazione formidabile
nel mondo della lirica di oggi. Nata a Lincoln,
ha studiato presso il Royal Northern College
of Music, con una borsa di studio della Peter
Moores Foundation, e poi è entrata all’English
National Opera. Ha riscosso un successo
straordinario nei ruoli molto diversi di Norma
e Brünnhilde, con il suo straordinario soprano
drammatico si è conquistata spettacolari
recensioni in tutto il mondo. La sua
interpretazione del ruolo di Brünnhilde
(Siegfried ) per la Lyric Opera di Chicago e la
successiva partecipazione al ciclo completo del
Ring nello stesso teatro, con Riccardo Muti
alla Scala di Milano, a San Francisco e a
Vienna hanno riscosso unanimi consensi da
parte della critica. Sempre nel ruolo di
Brünnhilde, la cantante era apparsa in
precedenza all’Opera Pacific e alla Scottish
Opera. Il suo successo nelle vesti di Norma per
la Scottish Opera (in un allestimento
finanziato con l’appoggio della Peter Moores
Foundation) si è ripetuto al Festival di
Ravenna con Muti, all’Opera di Seattle e di
Los Angeles, all’Opéra Bastille di Parigi e alla
Scottish Opera.
Altre interpretazioni memorabili
comprendono Isolde a Seattle, riproposta di
recente alla Metropolitan Opera e alla Lyric
© 2002 Peter Moores
Traduzione: Emanuela Guastella
76
Opera di Chicago con spettacolare successo;
l’esordio nel ruolo di Gioconda per la
Lyric Opera di Chicago; Donna Anna
(Don Giovanni) alla Metropolitan Opera,
interpretata in precedenza all’Opera di Vienna e
a Los Angeles, Monaco e Bologna; il ruolo di
protagonista nella Turandot al Covent Garden,
alla Metropolitan Opera con Luciano Pavarotti,
a Vienna, Madrid, Seattle, Bologna e all’Opéra
Bastille di Parigi; Amelia (Un ballo in maschera)
a Bologna e all’Opéra Bastille; il ruolo di
protagonista in Tosca per English National
Opera, al Teatro Colón di Buenos Aires e in
concerto con la Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra; il ruolo di protagonista in Ariadne
auf Naxos per English National Opera.
Jane Eaglen si trova altrettanto a proprio
agio nelle sale da concerto. Ha interpretato il
Requiem di Verdi con Simon Rattle e la City
of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; l’Ottava
sinfonia di Mahler con Klaus Tennstedt;
il III atto di Götterdämmerung con Bernard
Haitink e la Boston Symphony Orchestra;
Nabucco a Ravenna con Riccardo Muti; i
Gurrelieder con Claudio Abbado ai festival di
Salisburgo e di Edimburgo; Norma in concerto
al Tivoli Festival di Copenaghen e al Carnegie
Hall; Vier letzte Lieder di Strauss con Daniel
Barenboim e la Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
La discografia di Jane Eaglen comprende
una registrazione di arie di Wagner e Bellini,
una di arie di Strauss e Mozart, l’Ottava
sinfonia di Mahler, la Nona sinfonia di
Beethoven, la Messa di Bruckner, Norma,
Medea in Corinto per Opera Rara e, per
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation una
registrazione premiata di Tosca, più un altro
disco di Turandot. La sua voce compare anche
nella colonna sonora di Sense and Sensibility,
adattamento cinematografico del romanzo di
Jane Austen.
Rosalind Plowright vanta una carriera
estremamente illustre. Ha studiato presso il
Royal Northern College of Music e il London
Opera Centre, aggiudicandosi le borse di
studio della Peter Moores Foundation e di
Peter Stuyvesant. La sua registrazione del ruolo
di Leonora (Il trovatore) con Plácido
Domingo, diretta da Carlo Maria Giulini nel
1984, è stata candidata a un Grammy. Nello
stesso anno ha esordito con la Royal Opera
nelle vesti di Maddalena (Andrea Chénier) con
José Carreras e in Aida con Luciano Pavarotti.
Rosalind Plowright è comprasa nei migliori
teatri lirici del mondo, affrontando ruoli tra
cui Suor Angelica (Teatro alla Scala, Milano),
Leonora nel Trovatore (Verona), Stiffelio
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(La Fenice, Venezia), Ariadne e Medea (Opéra
Bastille, Parigi), Medea (The Royal Opera),
Desdemona e Amelia (Opera di Vienna),
Madama Butterfly (Houston Grand Opera),
e Santuzza (Staatsoper, Berlino). Per English
National Opera ha interpretato Otello, Mary
Stuart, The Turn of the Screw (per cui si è
aggiudicata un premio Olivier) e The Cloak
(Il tabarro) di Puccini. La discografia
comprende Elijah di Mendelssohn (per
Chandos), Les Contes d’Hoffmann di Offenbach,
Il trovatore di Verdi e (per Chandos/Peter
Moores Foundation) Mary Stuart e Otello.
Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) e Canio
(Pagliacci). Altri impegni in Nordamerica lo
hanno visto alla Lyric Opera di Chicago, a San
Francisco, San Diego, all’opera di Vancouver e
in concerto con le orchestre sinfoniche di
Philadelphia, Cleveland, Montreal e Ottawa,
oltre che al Festival di Cincinnati. Frequente
ospite dell’Opera di Monaco, ha esordito qui
in Un ballo in maschera e ha interpretato
successivamente un nuovo allestimento del
Trovatore, oltre a Der Rosenkavalier, Tosca,
Lucia di Lammermoor, Simon Boccanegra, Aida
e il ruolo di protagonista in Otello. Inoltre è
comparso nei teatri lirici di Vienna, Berlino,
Bonn, Colonia, Amburgo, Monaco, Nizza,
Zurigo, Parigi, Oslo, Bruxelles, Barcellona,
Lisbona, Oviedo, all’Arena di Verona e a
Torino, oltre che all’English National Opera.
Ha uno stretto rapporto di collaborazione con
la Welsh National Opera.
Dennis O’Neill svolge inoltre una ricca
attività concertistica e si è esibito in tutta
Europa. Le sue serie televisive per la BBC
hanno riscosso enorme successo e sono state
seguite da un originale televisivo su Caruso.
Le registrazioni per Chandos/Peter Moores
Foundation comprendono Cavalleria rusticana,
Pagliacci, Tosca, La Bohème, Il trovatore e un
disco di Grandi arie operistiche. Nel 2000
Nato in Galles da padre irlandese, Dennis
O’Neill è uno dei principali tenori del mondo
ed è specializzato nel repertorio verdiano. Ha
al suo attivo una lunga collaborazione con la
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, dove ha
interpretato numerosi ruoli, tra cui Rodolfo
(La Bohème), il Duca (Rigoletto), Pinkerton
(Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di
Lammermoor), Macduff (Macbeth), Gustavo
(Un ballo in maschera), Foresto (Attila), Otello,
Don Carlos, Radamès (Aida), Aroldo (in
concerto), Carlo (Giovanna d’Arco) e Jacopo
(I due Foscari).
Per la Metropolitan Opera ha indossato le
vesti di Alfredo (La traviata), Radamès (Aida),
78
Dennis O’Neill è stato insignito della carica di
CBE.
concerto sulla scena internazionale
interpretando, tra l’altro, l’Ottava sinfonia di
Mahler al Festival di Edimburgo; Alberich
(Siegfried) in concerto e Salieri (Mozart e
Salieri di Rimskij-Korsakov) e la Nona
sinfonia di Beethoven per la rete televisiva
australiana ABC.
La discografia comprende Leporello
(Don Giovanni), un disco di brani solistici
dedicato ai motivi di Peter Dawson e, per
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation, Scarpia
(Tosca) e Sharpless (Madam Butterfly).
Gregory Yurisich oggi è considerato uno dei
principali baritoni del mondo. Le sue recenti
interpretazioni del grande repertorio verdiano
gli hanno conquistato enorme apprezzamento
da parte della critica e comprendono Nabucco
al festival di Bregenz, con la Royal Opera e a
Ginevra; il ruolo di protagonista nel Rigoletto
in Israele, in Australia e ad Atene; il ruolo di
protagonista in Simon Boccanegra, e quello di
Escamillo (Carmen) per English National
Opera; il ruolo di protagonista di Falstaff in
Australia; Germont padre (La traviata) per
l’Opera di San Francisco, la Australian Opera e
a Tel-Aviv e Ginevra; Iago (Otello) con Plácido
Domingo per la Los Angeles Opera e a
Brisbane; Amonasro (Aida), Stankar (Stiffelio),
Scarpia (Tosca), le quattro personificazioni del
cattivo genio (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) e il
ruolo di protagonista del Guillaume Tell per la
Royal Opera. Altri ruoli comprendono
Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) per la Australian
Opera; Balstrode (Peter Grimes) allo Châtelet
di Parigi e al teatro La Monnaie di Bruxelles;
Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana) e Tonio (Pagliacci)
con cui ha esordito alla Berlin Staatsoper.
Gregory Yurisich si è esibito spesso in
Alastair Miles, considerato uno dei principali
cantanti inglesi, ha cantato alla Metropolitan
Opera House (Giorgio in I Puritani e
Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor), all’Opéra
National de Paris-Bastille (Raimondo, a
Vienna (La Juive e Giorgio ), a San Francisco
(Giorgio, Raimondo, e Basilio ne Il barbiere di
Siviglia); Amsterdam (Figaro ne Le nozze di
Figaro), al Teatro Real di Madrid ( Filippo II
in Don Carlos), all’English National Opera
(protagonista di Mephistopheles, Zaccaria nel
Nabucco) e al Covent Garden (Elmiro in
Otello e Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette ).
Il suo primo Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) ha
riscosso un enorme successo, come molte altre
interpretazioni verdiane.
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Alastair Miles riscuote altrettanto successo
nella sua carriera concertistica che lo ha
portato in tutto il mondo e lo ha visto
affiancare importanti direttori quali Giulini,
Mehta, Muti, Chung, Masur, Gergiev,
Gardiner e le più prestigiose orchestre del
mondo. La sua discografia attualmente
comprende ben 42 registrazioni, tra cui vanno
ricordati Elijah, il Requiem di Verdi e Saul e
Agrippina di Handel. Nel 2000 si è esibito per
la prima volta in recital nel Regno Unito con
Roger Vignoles. La discografia per
Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation
comprende Faust, La Bohème e un disco di
grandi arie operistiche; per Opera Rara, Medea
in Corinto, Orazi e Curiazi, Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra, Ricciardo e Zoraide e Maria regina
d’Inghilterra.
e ha debuttato alla Royal Opera House nel
ruolo di Rochefort (Anna Bolena) con dame
Joan Sutherland.
I suoi ruoli comprendono: Ramfis (Aida),
Fasolt (Das Rheingold ) Cadmus/Somnus
(Semele), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer),
re Marke (Tristan und Isolde) e il
Commendatore alla Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden; Gessler (Guillaume Tell ), il
Commendatore e Basilio (Il barbiere di
Siviglia) a San Francisco; Kečal (La sposa
venduta) per la Chicago Lyric Opera; Ramfis,
Daland e Ochs alla Metropolitan Opera. A
questi vanno aggiunti altri ruoli interpretati
alla Vienna Staatsoper, Deutsche Staatsoper,
l’Opera di Amburgo, ad Amsterdam, e ai
festival di Istanbul e Bregenz.
In concerto, Peter Rose ha interpretato la
Nona sinfonia di Beethoven con Giulini; il
Requiem di Mozart con Daniel Barenboim e
Zubin Mehta; l’Ottava sinfonia di Mahler con
Tilson Thomas all’Albert Hall; il Requiem di
Verdi al Barbican; La Damnation de Faust con
la Chicago Symphony Orchestra e sir Georg
Solti; L’Enfant et les sortilèges e L’Heure
espagnole di Ravel con la Cleveland Orchestra
diretta da Boulez; la Missa Solemnis di
Beethoven con la New York Philharmonic
diretta da Kurt Masur. La discografia
Nato a Canterbury, Peter Rose ha studiato
musica presso la University of East Anglia e
poi con Ellis Keeler alla Guildhall School of
Music and Drama. Nel 1985 si aggiudicava la
Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship e nel
1986 il Glyndebourne John Christie Award.
In teatro ha esordito nel 1986 nelle vesti del
Commendatore con la Glyndebourne Festival
Opera a Hong Kong. È stato basso solista per
la Welsh National Opera tra il 1986 e il 1989
80
comprende Le nozze di Figaro, The Seven
Deadly Sins, Salome, Un ballo in maschera e,
per Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation,
Ernani, The Barber of Seville, Tosca, e una
registrazione della Lucia di Lammermoor.
Staatsoper. Presso l’English National Opera,
dove è solista, i suoi ruoli comprendono
Atalanta (Xerxes), Constance (The Carmelites),
Pamina (The Magic Flute), Drusilla (The
Coronation of Poppea), Nannetta (Falstaff ) e il
ruolo di protagonista in The Cunning Little
Vixen.
La discografia per Chandos comprende Paul
Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Sir John in Love,
St Paul di Mendelssohn, una serie di
registrazioni di messe di Haydn e un’altra
registrazione di Falstaff (per Chandos/Peter
Moores Foundation).
Susan Gritton ha studiato botanica presso le
università di Oxford e Londra prima di
intraprendere la carriera di cantante. Nel 1994
ha vinto il Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Prize e
ha esordito come solista in un recital presso la
Wigmore Hall. Svolge una regolare attività
concertistica in tutta la Gran Bretagna e
all’estero, dove si è esibita al Concertgebouw
di Amsterdam, alla Konzerthaus di Vienna e
alla Philharmonie di Berlino.
I ruoli operistici di Susan Gritton
comprendono Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) e
Zerlina (Don Giovanni) per la Festival Opera e
la Touring Opera di Glyndebourne; la
Governante (The Turn of the Screw) e Lucia
(The Rape of Lucretia) per la direzione di
Steuart Bedford a Snape Maltings; Tiny
(Paul Bunyan) per la Royal Opera; Belinda
(Dido and Aeneas) alla Deutsche Staatsoper di
Berlino; Fulvia in Ezio di Handel con il King’s
Consort al Théâtre des Champs Elysées di
Parigi; Marzelline (Fidelio) con l’Opera di
Roma; Romilda (Xerxes) con la Bayerische
Nato nella regione del Lancashire, Alfred Boe
ha intrapreso gli studi musicali dopo una
tournée con la D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
nel 1994. Ha studiato con Neil Mackie presso
il Royal College of Music, e ha completato gli
studi di recente presso il National Opera
Studio di Londra.
Alfred Boe ha interpretato numerosi oratori,
tra cui la Messa di Gloria di Puccini, Elijah di
Mendelssohn, il Requiem di Verdi e la Petite
Messe solennelle e lo Stabat Mater di Rossini.
Le apparizioni in teatro lo hanno visto nel
ruolo di Roderigo in Otello e in quello di
protagonista in Albert Herring di Britten.
Nel 1999 ha fatto ritorno alla D’Oyly Carte
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per interpretare il ruolo di Ralph Rackstraw in
HMS Pinafore alla Royal Festival Hall
ed è comparso nelle vesti di Ernesto nel
Don Pasquale con la Scottish Opera-GoRound. Altri ruoli comprendono Roderigo
(Otello) per il teatro La Monnaie di Bruxelles,
Ferrando e Nanki-Poo (Mikado) per la Grange
Park Opera e Rodolfo (La Bohème) per la
Glyndebourne Touring Opera. Alfred Boe è
uno dei primi cantanti partecipanti al Vilar
Young Artists Programme della Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden.
partecipato a numerose registrazioni nelle
applaudite serie di Opera in English con il
patrocinio della Peter Moores Foundation.
Dai buoni auspici degli inizi nel 1945, quando
fu creata da Walter Legge principalmente
come orchestra di registrazione, la
Philharmonia Orchestra ha continuato ad
attirare alcuni fra i direttori più importanti del
ventesimo secolo. Hanno collaborato più
frequentemente con l’Orchestra Otto
Klemperer (primo Direttore Principale),
Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe
Sinopoli, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Andrew
Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy e Esa-Pekka
Salonen. Attualmente diretta dal Direttore
Principale Christoph von Dohnanyi e con
Leonard Slatkin in qualità di Direttore
Ospite Principale, l’Orchestra ha
consolidato la sua posizione centrale nella
vita musicale britannica, non solo a Londra
dove è Orchestra Residente al Royal
Festival Hall, ma anche nella società in
senso più ampio attraverso soggiorni sul
territorio.
L’Orchestra ha ricevuto diversi premi
importanti ed ha conquistato il plauso della
critica grazie alla sua vitalità e al calore unico
del suono. È stata lodata sia per la sua
La carriera di cantante di Geoffrey Mitchell
racchiude un repertorio notevole che spazia
dalla musica antica a quella contemporanea e
che l’ha portato in Scandinavia, Germania,
nella ex Cecoslovacchia, in Canada e
Australasia. L’esperienza di direzione degli inizi
con la BBC lo ha condotto ad un maggiore
coinvolgimento con i suoi stessi cantanti e
inoltre alla creazione del Geoffrey Mitchell
Choir. Le prime registrazioni sono sfociate nel
coinvolgimento a lungo termine del Coro con
Opera Rara, per la quale ha inciso più di
trenta registrazioni. Il Coro gode di una fama
sempre maggiore con ulteriore lavoro dalla
BBC e da case discografiche internazionali. Per
la Chandos il Geoffrey Mitchell Choir ha
82
programmazione innovativa, al centro della
quale vi è un impegno ad interpretare e
commissionare una musica nuova dei
principali compositori viventi al mondo, tra i
quali l’attuale Compositore in Visita James
MacMillan.
L’Orchestra si reca frequentemente all’estero
in tournée ed è l’orchestra sinfonica più
registrata al mondo con ben più di 1000
incisioni all’attivo. Tra queste vi sono, per Opera
Rara, parecchi dischi di arie d’opera nonché
undici opere complete (Ugo, conte di Parigi, Ne
m’oubliez pas, Emilia di Liverpool, L’assedio di
Calais, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra e Maria de
Rudenz di Donizetti, Dinorah di Meyerbeer,
Medea in Corinto di Mayr, Orazi e Curiazi di
Mercadante, Maria, regina d’Inghilterra di Pacini
e l’Otello di Rossini). L’Orchestra ha registrato
numerosi dischi per la Chandos, tra cui, nelle
serie di Opera in English con il patrocinio della
Peter Moores Foundation, L’elisir d’amore, Faust,
La bohème, Tosca vincitrice di un premio e sei
album con recital da solista di arie d’opera (con
Bruce Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny e John
Tomlinson).
come assistente di Sir John Pritchard. Ha
debuttato all’English Music Theatre, quindi è
diventato direttore d’orchestra presso la
Städtische Bühnen Dortmund e la Opera
North. È stato Direttore Musicale di Opera 80
dal 1983 al 1987 e dal 1992 è stato Direttore
Musicale fondatore dell’Opera di Almeida.
Lavora copiosamente in opere e concerti, a
livello nazionale ed internazionale. Ha diretto
diverse produzioni presso la English National
Opera e appare regolarmente con la
Philharmonia Orchestra. Nel 1996 ha
debuttato con Così fan tutte al Glyndebourne
Festival, dove nel 1998 ha diretto la prima
mondiale di Flight di Jonathan Dove.
È un frequente visitatore della Spagna dove
si è esibito in concerto con la maggior parte
delle maggiori orchestre spagnole. Ha diretto
la prima spagnola di Peter Grimes a Madrid e
nel 1996 la prima produzione spagnola di The
Rake’s Progress. È apparso in Germania, Svezia,
Paesi Bassi, al Festival di Pesaro in Italia, al
Festival Internazionale di Hong Kong, in
Giappone con una tournée della Carmen e in
Messico con la UNAM Symphony Orchestra.
Recenti nuove produzioni da lui dirette
comprendono il Fidelio al Festival della Nuova
Zelanda, Maria Stuarda al Teatro di Basilea e
Lucia di Lammermoor alla New Israeli Opera.
David Parry ha studiato con Sergiu
Celibidache ed ha cominciato la sua carriera
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Il suo lavoro in studio di registrazione
comprende la produzione della BBC di Der
Vampyr di Marschner nonché ventuno
registrazioni operistiche complete con il
patrocinio della Peter Moores Foundation. Tra
questi vi sono numerosi dischi per l’etichetta
Opera Rara che hanno vinti parecchi premi,
tra cui il belga Prix Cecilia per la Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra di Donizetti. Per Chandos ha
diretto sette registrazioni di arie d’opera (con
Bruce Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny, John Tomlinson
e Della Jones), nonché Don Giovanni, Ernani,
Faust, Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’amore, La
bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Tosca
(vincitrice di un premio) e brani scelti da Der
Rosenkavalier, tutte in collaborazione con la
Peter Moores Foundation.
84
David Parry, Dennis O’Neill and Charles Kilpatrick
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Ramfis (meaningfully, looking fixedly at Radames)
Nobly born, he’s young and valiant. The god has
spoken:
now I must tell the King.
COMPACT DISC ONE
1
Prelude
The action takes place in Memphis and Thebes at
the time of the Pharaohs.
(Ramfis leaves. Romance)
Act I
3
Scene 1
Hall in the palace of the King of Memphis
(Pharaoh). To the right and left a colonnade with
statues and flowering shrubs. At the back a grand
gate from which may be seen the temples and
palaces of Memphis and the Pyramids.
Introduction. Radames and Ramfis in
consultation
2
Ramfis
Yes, Ethiopia once again has dared to
defy our power: on the Nile we are threaten’d
and in the state of Thebes. I sent a messenger
to find the truth.
4
Radames
Have you consulted
the will of Isis?
Ramfis
She has decided
who will take the supreme
command of all our armies.
Radames
I pray that I
be chosen and achieve my
dream of glory!
With a glorious valiant army
and I as leader…
Egypt victorious,… acclaimed
by the whole of Memphis!
To you my sweet Aida
I’d enter crowned with glory…
saying: ‘for you I battled, for you I conquered!’
Goddess Aida, fair as a vision,
magic in beauty, glowing with light,
like some fair planet you shine above me,
you are the ruler of my whole life.
Home to your country I would return you,
back to the sweet-scented land you love:
then with a garland I would adorn you,
build you a throne nearer to the sun!
Home to your country I would return you
and let you savour the air you love.
(Amneris enters. Duet and Trio)
Radames
Ah, what an honour!
5
86
Amneris
Have you just heard a joyous
tale that stirs you? A valiant
noble elation seems to glow inside you!
How all the world would envy
and honour the woman who merely by her
presence
and her beauty could waken in you such ardour!
Amneris
(I will die if I have found a
darkly hidden secret love!)
(Aida enters.)
Radames
A soldier’s heart beats faster
when he’s dreaming of glory. Isis today
has named the man who will command our army
and lead them forth to face the foe…
Ah! if only
I might achieve that honour!
6
Radames (seeing Aida)
Aida!
Amneris (to herself; watching)
(He is troubled… Ah, what a
look of devotion was there!
Aida! Is she my rival?
Is he in love with her?)
(turning to Aida)
Come, my dear, come close to me…
never a slave I find you!
You are a sister dear to me,
with sweetest ties I bind you…
Weeping? And will you share
with a sister the sorrow,
causing you tears of woe?
Amneris
Another dream more charming,
still more sweet, still more lovely,
may captivate your heart. Have you a longing…
a devotion… more tender?
Radames
Me? (What a question.
Surely she can’t discover
the love that burns inside me.)
7
Amneris
(I’ll die if there’s another…
a rival holding him as lover!)
Aida
Alas, I hear the cries of war,
the fearful shouts re-echo…
What will befall my countrymen?
For them, for you, I’m dying.
Amneris
Is this the truth? No other reason
causes your dismay?
(Aida! Beware my anger!)
Radames
(Can she have guess’d my secret
by looking in my eyes?
She read my secret
in my eyes.)
(Aida casts down her eyes and tries to hide her
emotion.)
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Radames (watching Amneris)
(I see her eyes are flashing…
Amneris
Oh slave, beware my anger,
for in your heart I’ll find the truth!
I mean to know the truth about your blushes,
your blushes and all your tears!
Tremble, slave, beware my wrath!
Amneris (aside, regarding Aida)
Aida, beware my anger!
Radames
…with anger and suspicion…)
(The Pharaoh enters, preceded by his guards and
followed by Ramfis, ministers, priests, officers, etc.
Scene and Concerted Piece)
Amneris
In your heart I’ll find the secret!
Radames
Can she have read the secret
that’s hidden in our hearts?…
8
Amneris
I mean to know the truth
of your blushes and of your tears!
Radames
Hidden inside our hearts?
The Pharaoh
Grave is the cause that
summons round their King the faithful men of
Egypt.
From the Ethiopian front a messenger
has arrived now. Hear what he has to tell you.
His news is urgent.
(to an official )
Now bring him here before us!
(The Messenger enters.)
Aida
Ah! No, sighs for my country
now vie in my heart with other sorrows,
these tears fast flowing are mourning
a sad, unlucky love!
The Messenger
Our sacred land has been defiled by fierce
Ethiopian invaders… they ravaged all our
fields and our farmsteads, burnt all our
harvests… emboldened
by so easy a triumph, the savage troops
are advancing on the city.
Radames
I see in her eyes an angry flash
an angry flash, suspecting our love!
She reads the tender passion,
that’s hidden deep in our hearts!
All
They would not dare to!
88
The Messenger
They are led by a warrior as savage
as a tiger – Amonasro.
Amneris
Our leader! Our leader!
Aida
I tremble, I tremble!
All
The King!
The Pharaoh
Now go to Vulcan’s temple
brave Radames, you must put
on the armour of victorious Egypt!
Aida (aside)
(My father!)
The Messenger
Now Thebes has risen; from every door and
gateway
our men are rushing forth hurling
fire and sword upon the wild invader.
9
Now go forward noble army,
guard the shores of sacred Nile;
every voice proclaim our war cry:
death and destruction fall upon the foe!
Ramfis
Bow in homage. Glory to Isis!
She it is who guides our fortunes.
Great her might high in the heavens;
Isis rules the world below.
The Pharaoh
Let death and battle be our only war cry!
All
Battle! Battle!
Destruction, no quarter given!
Bow down in homage!
Great the might of Isis.
She guides our fortune,
Isis rules the world below!
The Pharaoh (addressing Radames)
Isis, our holy goddess,
has chosen her commander,
the man to lead our glorious troops to battle.
Radames!
All
Radames!
Ministers and Captains
Now go forward noble army
we shall form a human barrier;
every voice proclaim our war cry:
death and destruction fall upon the foe!
Radames
Ah! My thanks to Heaven.
My prayers have been heard!
The Pharaoh
Yes, now go forward noble army,
now go forward to the river.
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Let every voice proclaim the cry;
destruction fall upon the foe!
a country, and a palace, the royal name
I am forced to keep unspoken? Do I pray
he kill my brothers?… Yes there I see him, stained
with the blood I cherish, carried high in triumph
by Egyptian battalions. Behind his chariot,
a King, my father, led in chains of bondage!
Ministers and Captains
Now go forward, noble army,
we shall form a human barrier etc.
Aida (to herself )
Who can tell me who I weep for, who I pray
for?
Ah, this fatal power that binds me!
Dare I love him, yes, love him
both a stranger and a foe?
Amneris
I pray it guide you
may it guide you, may it light you,
yes, may it light you on the valiant path you go.
All (except Aida)
Battle! Battle! Battle!
Destroy them! Death and vengeance upon the
foe!
Amneris (handing a standard to Radames)
From my hand, oh noble leader,
take this standard bright with glory;
may it guide you, long may it light you
on the valiant path you go!
Aida
Dare I give him my heart, and love
both a stranger and a foe? Ah!
Dare I love him
both a stranger and a foe?
The Pharaoh
Now go forward, noble army etc.
Amneris
As victor then return!
Ramfis
Bow in homage men of Egypt!
Mighty Isis guides our fortunes:
hers the might and hers the glory!
Holy Isis rules the world below!
All
As victor then return!
11
(Exit all but Aida. Scene and Romance)
10
Radames and Messenger
Fight and conquer!
Fight and we will be victorious! etc.
90
Aida
As victor then return! How can I utter
words full of betrayal? That they conquer
my own father, a man who wages war just
for me, just to restore me
Scene 2
Interior of the Temple of Vulcan at Memphis.
A mysterious light from above. A long row of
columns, one behind the other, vanishing in
darkness. Statues of various deities. In the middle of
the stage, above a platform covered with carpet,
rises the altar surmounted with sacred emblems.
Golden tripods emitting fumes of incense. Grand
Scene of the Consecration and First Finale
Oh Heaven, forgive all
the mad words I utter!
Restore to a dear loving
father his daughter;
destroy them, destroy all the armies
that so oppress our land! Ah! –
Wretched madness, how can I? My own beloved!
How could I turn against him,
with his fervent devotion when all turned from
me?
His smile was like the sun shining upon me.
Shall I invoke the death
of Radames, the man I love so dearly?
Ah, shall I ever bear
this cruel, deadly anguish, this burning sorrow?
Aida
(Who can tell me who I weep for, who I pray for?)
Radames
I can feel the flame of glory
fire my mind and quite consume me!
We will fight and we will conquer:
death and destruction will fall upon the foe!
All hope is gone, joy comes no more.
Ah, fatal love, ah, mighty love,
come, break my heart, leave me to die!
Hear me, ye gods, hear my cry.
12
13
High Priestess (alone)
Almighty, almighty Phtha, the
spirit of life in us all, ah!
(with chorus of Priestesses from within)
We here implore thee!
Ramfis and Priests
Who, from the void, created
earth, air, and sea, and sky,
we here implore thee!
The sacred names of a father and lover,
I cannot even utter, nor yet recall.
Confused and trembling… the one and the
other…
I only want to weep… I want to pray.
Is it a crime to confess such a feeling,
a crime for me to weep, a crime to sigh?
High Priestess
Almighty, almighty Phtha, the fruitful
spirit of life in us all, ah!
(with Priestesses)
We here implore thee!
Ramfis and Priests
Lord God of ancient mystery,
who art both son and sire,
we here implore thee!
In darkest night all my senses are reeling,
in cruel distress I long to die!
Hear me, ye gods, pity my cry!
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Priests
The sacred sword
of the god shall serve you, striking the invaders
and spreading dismay, massacre, carnage.
High Priestess
Fire uncreated beyond all time,
whence came the light and sun! Ah!
(with Priestesses)
We here implore thee!
Ramfis and Priests
Life spirit universal,
great fount of deathless love,
we here implore!
16
Priestesses
Almighty Phtha!
Radames
Great Godhead we petition thee,
great judge and holy leader.
Come, grant us thy protection,
save us, protect Egyptian soil.
Ramfis and Priests
We here implore!
14
(Sacred Dance of the Priestesses. Radames,
unarmed, is brought into the Temple and
conducted to the altar. A silver veil is placed on
his head.)
Ramfis
Grant us thy blessing.
Come, raise thy hand in blessing
over our holy Egyptian soil.
Priestesses
Almighty Phtha!
Priests
Great Godhead we petition thee,
our guardian and avenger,
come, raise thy hand in blessing,
blessing over Egyptian soil!
Priests
We here implore!
15
Ramfis
Massacre, carnage.
(turning to the god )
Great Godhead we petition thee,
our guardian and avenger,
come, raise thy hand in blessing,
over Egyptian soil.
Ramfis (to Radames)
The gods have shown you favour: to you they
now
entrust the future of Egypt. The sacred sword
of the god shall serve you, striking the invaders
and spreading dismay, massacre, carnage.
Ramfis
Great Godhead we petition thee,
our guardian and avenger,
come, raise thy hand in blessing,
blessing over Egyptian soil!
92
Radames
Come, grant us aid, protect us and defend us.
Protect our holy Egyptian soil!
Radames and Ramfis
Almighty Phtha!
All
Almighty Phtha!
Priestesses
Almighty, almighty Phtha.
Act II
Ramfis, Radames, Priests and Priestesses
Almighty Phtha.
Scene 1
A hall in the apartments of Amneris. Amneris
surrounded by female slaves who attire her for the
triumphal feast. Tripods emitting perfumed
vapours. Young Moorish slaves waving feather fans.
Introduction. Scene, Chorus of Women and Dance
of the Moorish Slaves
Priestesses
Life spirit in us all.
Ramfis, Radames, Priests and Priestesses
Life spirit in us all,
who has from nothing the world created,
thou who from nothing waves hast
created, earth, air and Heaven,
we here implore thee!
Who hast created us from nothing,
we here implore thee!
17
Priestesses
Ah! – Ah!
Almighty Phtha!
Breathing spirit of life in all,
fruitful spirit of life in all.
Slave-girls
We hear the hymns and cheering,
praising all his glory and fame;
his gaze is god-like, fierce and terrible,
he shines in our acclaim.
Let sweetest flowers rain on you,
competing with laurels around your brow;
let songs of glory celebrate
your lover’s tender vow.
Amneris
Ah, come to me, ah, come my love, enslave me,
and set my heart on fire.
All the others
We here implore!
Slave-girls
The hordes of fierce barbarians,
all have melted away.
Like sunlight melting winter snows,
our armies won the day.
Priestesses
Almighty Phtha!
All the others
We here implore!
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Aida
Oh, how can I be happy,
so far from all my people, hearing no word about
the fate of my father and my brothers?
A victory resounding
has won our hero fame and glorious high reward.
And after deeds of glory
the voice of love is heard.
Dance of the Young Moorish slaves
(The slaves continue attiring Amneris.)
Slave-girls
Let sweetest flowers rain on you etc.
19
20
Amneris (to herself )
Ev’ry expression… all her confusion
tell of the secret fever of love…
Dare I still ask her? Have I the courage?
I share the torments of all her alarm.
(to Aida, eyeing her fixedly)
But now a new anxiety
disturbs you, sweet Aida?
Come share your secret thoughts with me,
trust in my friendship, my love and
understanding.
Among the men who went to war
fighting against your country…
it may be that one has kindled
longing in your secret heart?
No more now! Aida makes her way towards us…
child of the vanquished, to me her grief is sacred.
(At a sign from Amneris, the slaves retire.
Aida enters, carrying the crown.)
But when I see her, my fearful
doubts come back to plague me…
I’ll discover the secret she is hiding!
Scene and Duet
(to Aida with feigned affection)
Now the battle is over your people suffer,
O poor Aida! The sorrow
that oppresses your heart, may I not share it?
Accept the hand of friendship…
Nothing shall be denied you… live, be happy!
94
Aida (falling to her knees)
Lives!
Oh, gods I thank you!
Aida
You cannot mean it! Radames!
Amneris
And still you would deceive me?
Yes… you love him… I love him too…
(with utmost fury)
You understand? Behold your rival…
I who am Pharaoh’s daughter.
Amneris
Yes, Radames was killed
in battle…
Aida (much moved, aside)
Ah, love, ah, love, oh, joy and torment…
sweetest elation, then dark despair…
in all your sorows I feel life quicken…
a smile from you can open Heaven’s gate.
Amneris
Ah, come to me, ah, come my love, enslave me,
and set my heart on fire.
Amneris
Don’t deny it!
But one word further: the truth will
be clear… Come, let me watch you…
I have deceived you… Radames lives…
Amneris
A cruel destiny
came only to a few men…
and one, our fearless leader,
fell on the field of battle…
Amneris
Ah, how you grieve me! All human misfortune
must some time have an end… time will bring
comfort
and heal your present misery…
Greater than time too, a god more mighty…
the god of love.
Amneris
Ah, come to me, ah, come, my love awaken me
and speak a tender word!
18
Aida
A longing?
Aida
Wretched fate!
Aida (drawing herself up with pride)
You my rival…
Well then so be it… I too… could be…
(checking herself and falling at the feet of Amneris)
Ah! What have I said? Forgive!
Forgive me! Ah!
Amneris
You cannot mourn him?
Aida
I’ll mourn him for evermore!
Amneris
The gods now have avenged you…
22
Aida
The gods have always
denied me what I longed for…
21
Amneris (breaking out in anger)
Tremble! I know your secret…
You love him…
But look with pity on my distress…
It’s true I adore him with all my heart…
You are so happy and you are mighty,
I live alone for one glance of love!
Amneris
I will destroy you, I’ll break your heart…
Daring to love him could mean your downfall.
I hold your future in my hand,
hatred and vengeance now rule in my heart.
Aida
Love him?
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Aida
Ah, no more!
Aida
Ah! You are happy and you are mighty…
I live alone for one glance of love!
Ah, look with pity on my distress.
Amneris
– to compete with me.
What it means to compete with me.
Amneris
Tremble in slavery!
I’ll break your heart, you hateful slave girl!
I hold your future in my hand,
and hate and vengeance now rule in my heart.
23
Scene 2
An avenue to the City of Thebes. In front of a
clump of palms. On the right a temple dedicated to
Ammon. On the left a throne with a purple canopy.
At the back a triumphal arch. The stage is crowded
with people. Grand Finale Two
Aida
Ah, no more,
this love will perish within the grave.
No more! No more!
Chorus (outside)
Now go forward noble army,
guard the Nile, our sacred river;
ev’ry voice proclaim our war cry:
death and destruction fall upon the foe!
Amneris
Ah, what it means
to compete with me.
Come, attend me –
Amneris
To the triumph now preparing,
you, Aida, will attend me;
you prostrated in the dust and I,
I enthron’d beside the King.
Chorus (outside)
Let destruction strike the foe!
Amneris
– and I will show you
what it means to vie with me.
Aida
Ah, have pity, what is left me?
My whole life is now a desert;
live and reign in highest glory,
I will learn to calm your rage.
This fond love that has enraged you
will soon perish in the grave.
Chorus
Let destruction strike the foe!
(Exit Amneris.)
24
Amneris
Come with me and I will show you
what it means –
96
Aida
Hear me, ye gods, pity my cry!
All hope is gone and joy comes no more.
Hear me, ye gods, pity my cry!
Ah, hear my prayer, ah, hear my prayer!
we worship and adore them
on this victorious/most blessed day.
Populace (women)
Dance fervently and slowly,
Honour the leader we hail!
(men)
Praise we in festive song,
we praise our King in festive song!
(Enter the Pharaoh followed by the Court – officers,
priests, captains, fan bearers, standard bearers.
Afterwards Amneris with Aida and salves. The
Pharaoh takes his seat on the throne. Amneris
places herself at his left hand.)
25
Priests
Worship, bow down before them
on this victorious /most blessed day.
Populace
Glory to Isis, goddess fair,
you who protect and shelter.
Our King who rules the Delta,
praise we in festive song!
Glory! Glory! Glory!
Glory, oh King!
26
Trumpet Fanfare
(The Egyptian troops march past the Pharaoh: then
dancing girls with the spoil captured from the
Ethiopians.)
27
Women
The lotus buds and laurel
entwine in fragrant bowers!
A cloud of summer flowers
hides all the swords in a veil.
Now dance Egyptian maidens
to music sweet and holy,
dance fervently and slowly,
honour the leader we hail.
28
Ballabile
Populace
Glorious warrior Radames,
victor of all our foes;
we strew before our heroes,
laurel and fragrant bay!
Priests
The gods are everlasting,
bow down before them,
worship the gods and adore them
on this most blessed day.
Priests
All praise and glory to mighty gods
in Heaven; now bow down before them;
(Radames enters.)
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Populace (sopranos)
Hail Radames!
Praise him, let all rejoice.
Hail Radames, victor of all our foes,
we strew before the heroes
laurels twin’d with bay.
Hail glorious warrior, victor of all our foes.
(other voices)
Glory, glory, glory!
Hail Radames! Praise him,
praise him glorious hero!
Hail Radames, victor of all our foes.
We strew before the heroes
laurels twin’d with bay.
today shall be granted. Any wish shall not be
denied to you… By Egypt’s
glorious crown I swear it: the gods are witness.
Radames
First let the captive slaves be brought to stand
before your throne…
(The Ethiopian prisoners enter, escorted by guards.
The last of them is Amonasro, dressed as an officer.)
30
Aida (rushing towards Amonasro)
Oh Heaven! Captive! My father!
Priests
Worship the gods,
give them praise and glory!
Worship the gods and sing their praise.
Adore them, adore the gods and praise them.
All (except Aida)
Her father!
Amneris
And in our power!
Populace
Glory! Glory! Glory!
Glory to Egypt!
29
Ramfis and Priests
Worship and glory to all the gods on high,
bow down in worship on this most blessed day.
All priase to the gods.
Aida (embracing her father)
You! Captive here!
(The Pharaoh descends from the throne to embrace
Radames.)
Amonasro (whispering to Aida)
Don’t speak my name.
The Pharaoh
Valiant pride of your country, I here salute you.
Hero, see, my daughter is at hand to greet you
with Egypt’s crown of triumph.
(Radames bows before Amneris, who crowns him.)
Your heart’s desire
The Pharaoh (to Amonasro)
Come forward…
Who then… are you?
Amonasro
Her father. I also fought…
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31
We were defeated… All I sought was death.
(indicating his uniform)
As you see, I am wearing the colours
of my King and my country in battle;
Fate was hostile to us and our armies…
all our courage and might were in vain.
At my feet in the dust of the battle
lay our King badly mangled and bleeding;
if to fight for your country is an evil,
we are guilty, and ready to die!
(to the Pharaoh, in supplication)
Mighty King, you are noble and glorious,
show us mercy, tho’ you are victorious.
We today have been struck down by fortune.
Ah, maybe tomorrow will be your turn to die.
Aida, Slave-girls and Prisoners
Forbear!
Ramfis and Priests
Let the will of the gods be obey’d.
Aida, Slave-girls and Prisoners
Forbear!
Aida
But you O King, are great in glory,
show us mercy tho’ you are victorious…
Amneris (to herself )
O, what glances, like a doting lover!
How they glow when they see one another!
Amonasro
We today tho’ have been struck down by fortune,
but one day it may be your turn to die!
Aida
Mighty King, you are noble and glorious etc.
The Pharaoh
Now that fortune smiles in favour on our city,
let us temper our justice with mercy…
Slave-girls and Prisoners
We today have been struck down by fortune;
here we kneel to implore your compassion;
may you never be fated to suffer
all the shame we have suffer’d today!
Slave-girls and Prisoners
Here we kneel down to implore pity and
kindness.
Ah, forbear, forbear!
Ramfis and Priests
Death, O King, to these savage invaders,
close your heart when they try to persuade us. –
Populace
Priests of Isis, your anger dismays us.
Hear the prayer of the vanquish’d.
Aida, Slave-girls and Prisoners
Forbear!
Ramfis and Priests
Destruction! Destruction! Destruction!
O King, these invaders all deserve to die!
Ramfis and Priests
They are mark’d by the gods for destruction. –
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Radames (to himself )
Ah, that grief which the Fates send to tear her
seems in my eyes to make her still fairer;
ev’ry precious lament that she utters
reawakens my heart’s tender love.
Ev’ry precious lament that she utters
reawakens my longing and love.
Amneris (to herself )
O, what glances, he dotes like a lover!
How they’re glowing to see one another!
I’m abandon’d, I am sad and rejected,
bitter vengeance is born in my heart!
Amonasro
We implore, show us pity we beg you.
The King
Now that fortune has smiled on our city
let us temper our justice with mercy!
Ah, forbear! Mercy rises to Heaven
reaffirming kingly pow’r.
Ramfis and Priests
Let the will of the gods be obey’d!
Death to savage invaders!
Let them perish; they are mark’d for destruction.
Let the powerful will of the gods be obey’d.
The Pharaoh
I swore.
Aida
Mighty King, you are noble and glorious etc.
Amneris (to herself )
Not all of them!
Radames
Ah, her grief seems to make her still fairer etc.
Priests
Death to our country’s hated enemies!
The King
Ah, forbear! Mercy rises etc.
Ramfis (to the Pharaoh, then to Radames)
Beware O King.
And you our
glorious hero, yield to the voice of wisdom;
they are battle-hardened fighters.
They have vengeance in their hearts.
If you give them all their freedom,
they will take up arms again!
Populace
King most mighty, you O King, are mighty
in power, ah, let mercy disarm you today.
Ah, show mercy to our vanquish’d foe.
Slave-girls and Prisoners
Forbear, forbear. Ah, forbear!
Show your pity we beg,
show your pity we implore.
Amneris
I’m abandon’d, I, Amneris etc.
Populace
Priests of Isis your anger dismays us.
Hear the prayer of the vanquish’d, we beg you!
32
100
Radames
O King, by holy Isis
and by your crown in its shining splendour,
you swore to grant me all I wanted…
Amneris (to herself )
(Slave, you are nothing!
Now will you dare to steal my lover from me?)
33
Populace
Grant mercy to the wretched!
Ramfis and Priests
Death to savage invaders etc.
Aida
Show pity I beg you…
we have today been struck down by fortune,
but tomorrow it may be your own turn to die.
Radames
Then listen: for all prisoners here, I beg of you,
grant them their lives, let them go free.
Amonasro
Mighty King, you are noble and glorious etc.
Slave-girls and Prisoners
We today have been struck down by fortune etc.
but there’s a better pledge of peace and safety
for the future. Radames, your country’s
debt is unbounded. Take in holy marriage
Princess Amneris; you shall be Pharaoh with her
at your side when I am gone.
The Pharaoh and Populace
Glory to Isis, goddess fair,
you who protect and shelter,
the lotus buds and laurel
entwine over the victor’s brow.
Slave-girls and Prisoners
Glory to Egypt’s clement ways,
you who have loosed our fetters,
you give us back our liberty
and in our native land.
Ramfis and Priests
Offer a hymn to Isis
defender of our great country!
And pray that the smile of fortune
will always be kind to our land.
Radames
Without Amonasro, their warrior King, all hope
of revenge has perish’d.
Ramfis
As pledge of
peace and security to all, keep
as hostage Aida’s father.
Aida (to herself )
Alas what hope is left me now?
For him a glorious future…
for me the end, the bitter tears
of my despairing love.
The Pharaoh
I’ll do as you advise me,
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Radames (to himself )
The gods have turn’d away from me.
Their thunder falls upon me…
Ah, no, the throne of Egypt
rates low by my Aida’s heart.
Ah! now I glow with happiness,
joy never came so sudden.
Amonasro
Take heart, a time of comfort
comes soon for your dear country;
for us the day of vengeance
now very soon will dawn.
The Pharaoh and Populace
Glory to Egypt!
Glory to Isis,
goddess fair,
you who protect and shelter.
The lotus buds and laurel
entwine over the victor’s brow!
Ramfis and Priests
We sing in praise of Isis fair.
Offer a hymn to Isis
defender of our great country.
And pray that the smile of fortune
will always be kindly.
Aida (to herself )
For me black oblivion, the bitter tears.
Ah! Alas what hope is left me now?
For him a glorious future…
for me the end, the bitter tears
of my unhappy love!
Slaves and Prisoners
Glory to Egypt’s clement ways,
you who have loosed our fetters.
You give us back our liberty
and in our native land.
Amneris (to herself )
Ah, how I glow with happiness,
joy never came so sudden;
here in one day I realise
the dream I hold so dear.
Ramfis
We pray that fortune always
will smile on our holy land.
The Pharaoh and Populace
Glory! We praise the Gods!
Glory! Glory!
Amonasro (aside, to Aida)
Take heart, a time of comfort
is coming for your country;
for us the day of vengeance
now very soon will dawn.
Radames
The gods have turned away from me!
Then thunder falls upon me!
Ah, no! the throne of Egypt
rates low by my Aida’s heart!
Amneris
All in a day I realise
the sweetest dream I hold so dear.
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COMPACT DISC TWO
Amneris
Yes, and I will pray that Radames may truly
give me his heart, because my own belongs
to him forever…
Act III
The banks of the Nile – granite rocks with palm
trees. On the summit of the rocks a temple
dedicated to Isis half-hidden in foliage. Starry,
moonlit night. Introduction, Prayer-Chorus,
Romance
1
Ramfis
Now enter.
You will pray till the sunrise: I shall be with
you.
Chorus (in the temple)
Thou art to great Osiris
bride and immortal mother.
Goddess who wakest chaste desire
deep in the human heart…
(All enter the temple.)
Chorus
Have pity on us.
Grant us thy aid and pity,
font of almighty love,
have pity on us.
High Priestesses
Have pity on us…
(Aida enters cautiously.)
Chorus
Grant us thy aid and pity
font of almighty love,
have pity on us.
3
(Amneris, Ramfis, attendants and guards
alight from a boat that has drawn into the
riverbank.)
2
Ramfis (to Amneris)
Come to the shrine of Isis, and on the night
before you are married invoke
the holy goddess’s favour. To holy Isis
ev’ry human heart is open; all that is hidden
deep inside us is known to Isis.
4
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Aida
Soon Radames will come! What will he tell me?
I tremble. Ah, cruel man,
if you’re coming to say farewell for ever,
the deep Nile will surely bury me…
hide me for ever…
Then I may find there peace and a long
oblivion.
Oh, dearest home, no more to see my home.
Oh, skies of blue, oh, soft, caressing breezes,
land where my childhood serenely passed in joy…
Oh, fertile meadows… oh, fragrant summer
flowers…
Oh, dearest country, no more to see my home?
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Oh, fragrant valleys, oh, blessed haven!
Once I had hopes of true and faithful love…
Now that my dream of love vanishes for ever…
oh, how I long to be in my native land.
Ah, dearest country, no more to see my home.
(Amonasro enters. Duet)
Heav’n! My father!
5
Amonasro
The happy bride of him you love and treasure,
your whole existence only to enjoy…
Aida
A single day of such enchanting pleasure…
To know an hour of sweetest joy, and then to die!
Amonasro
Now remember the blasphemous Egyptians
profaning our temples, our altars and our
homes…
hanging fetters on innocent young virgins…
mothers… children… they all were put to
death.
Amonasro
I come, full of concern
for you Aida. Not one look has
escaped me. I realise you
love Radames… he loves you… you will meet
him,
the Pharaoh’s only daughter is your rival…
Curse the Pharaoh! Curse Amneris!
They would destroy us!
Aida
Ah, I remember days of bitter grieving!
Weeping, lamenting, we were in despair.
Great gods, oh hear me, show us now your mercy,
and a fair season of peace again.
Aida
And I am in her power! I, Amonasro’s
daughter!
6
Amonasro
You are in her power. No! If you wish it
you can fight with Amneris and defeat her.
Then homeland and sceptre and love, shall all be
yours!
Once again you will see our lofty forests,
our fragrant valleys, our temples bright with gold!
Amonasro
Remember.
I’ll wait no longer. Our people now are waiting
for my orders; ev’rything’s prepared…
Success is sure… One vital piece is missing.
We must know by what path our foe will
march…
Aida
Who could ever discover? But who?
Aida
Once again I shall see our lofty forests,
our fragrant valleys, our temples bright with
gold!
Amonasro
Aida!
104
Aida
I!
See there, from gloomy caves below
shades of the dead are rising…
all of them point at you and cry:
‘Destroyer of your land!’
Amonasro
Radames comes here to meet you…
he loves you…
and commands the Egyptians… you follow?
Aida
Forbear! Forbear! Father, forbear!
Aida
Betray him!
Betray the man I love? No, no, ah, no.
Amonasro (sotto voce)
Now I see a phantom
rising among the shadows…
Horror! It marks your features –
Amonasro (with savage fury)
Destroy us, you armies
of Egypt, destroy us!
Reduce all our cities
to ashes and dust…
spread fury and terror,
destruction and slaughter,
for now there is nothing
to stand in your way.
Aida
Ah!
Amonasro
Pointing a shrivelled arm…
Aida
Father!…
Amonasro
Do you not see…
Aida
Ah, father, father!
Aida
No!
Amonasro (repulsing her)
My daughter
no longer!
Amonasro
…your mother’s hand…
Aida (thrown to the ground and begging)
No more, no more, no more!
Aida
Ah!
Amonasro
Rivers of blood will drown all our
ruined and beaten cities…
Amonasro
…raised up to curse you?…
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Aida (with utmost terror)
Ah no, dear father, spare your child!
7
8
Aida
Tomorrow’s dawn will bring your marriage vows.
Amneris loves you…
Amonasro (repulsing her)
No more my daughter…
for you are only a slave of Pharaoh!
Radames
What’s that to me?
My own Aida, I live for you.
The gods above us are witness I love you.
Aida (with a cry)
Ah! Forgive, forgive, forgive!
(dragging herself to her father’s feet )
Father… the Egyptians…
have not… enslaved me…
Ah, do not curse me… do not despise me…
I am your daughter… do not disown me…
I shall be worthy of you and my land.
Amonasro
Think of the torment our people suffer,
through you alone they can rise again.
Amonasro
Have courage, he’s coming… there I shall hide…
(He hides among the palm trees as Radames enters.
Duet, Scene – Finale Three)
Aida
Ah, do not swear it if it is false.
Hero I loved, I cannot love a liar.
Aida
In vain! You could not help me…
Yet if you love me, there is always a course
for us to take…
Radames
But do you doubt my love, dear Aida?
Radames
Tell me!
10
Radames
At last I see my sweet Aida…
Aida
It’s useless… Leave me… What hope is left?
Radames
A lover’s passion has led me here to you.
106
Radames
Listen Aida.
Your people rise again, arming for battle…
the troops are gathering… soon they will
march…
and when invaders strike across our borders,
I will be chosen, I shall command.
And in the triumph, when we’re victorious,
I’ll kneel to Pharaoh, open my heart –
then you will wear the crown of my glory,
and we will live in the bliss of true love.
Abandoning my homeland,
the altars of our gods!
The soil where I first gathered
my laurel leaves of glory,
the place of our first loving,
how could we both forget?
Radames
I will defend you.
Aida
There in the virgin forests etc.
Radames
How to forget the place where we declared our
love?
Aida
Beneath my sky a freer love
would flourish more than ever,
and there we’d pray together
sharing our gods as well.
Aida
To leave…
Aida
Do you
imagine you’ll baffle the charms of Amneris,
the will of the King, and the wish of the people,
and of the priests in their fury?
Aida
Oh, dearest country, how much you cost me!
9
Aida
Do you not fear Amneris –
the tempest of her rage? Her dreadful vengeance,
like the lightning from heaven,
will fall on me, upon my father, my people.
Radames
To leave here!
11
Radames
Abandon my dear homeland
and leave my household gods!
The place of our first loving,
how could we both forget?
Aida (with impulsive warmth)
We’d leave this white oppressive heat
and all this barren desert,
turn to another fatherland,
where love could blossom truly.
There in the virgin forests,
perfum’d with fragrant flowers
in ecstasy of love
we’ll bury all regret.
Aida
Ah, come, ah, come!
Radames
Aida!
Aida
You don’t love me… Go!
Radames
To seek another country
and both together fly.
Radames
Not love you!
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Fragrant valleys and summer meadows,
the only marriage bed we lie on,
in their courses stars will shine
with a limpid light above.
Aida
Go!
Radames
There never was a man nor
even a god who burned with love as I for you.
13
Aida and Radames
Come away, we’ll fly together,
leave behind this land of sorrow!
How I love you, how I love you!
Come, and love will be our guide.
Aida
No! No! Amneris awaits
to take you…
Radames
No! I swear…
12
(They begin to hurry away, when Aida stops.)
Aida
You swear? You mean it?
Then let the axe fall swiftly
on me and on my father.
Aida
But tell me, by what path
can we avoid the troops of
marching soldiers?
Radames (with impassioned resolution)
Ah, no!
We’ll leave here!
Hand in hand we’ll fly together,
find a pathway across the desert;
here misfortune rules forever;
there the heavens smile with love.
Barren deserts will roll around us,
the only marriage bed we lie on,
in their courses stars will shine
with a limpid light above.
Radames
We have settled that the road
where my men will attack will be deserted
until the morning…
Aida
And where is that?
Radames
The gorges
of Napata…
Amonasro (coming forward )
The gorges of Napata!
There I will post my army!
Aida
Daily heaven smiles to bless us
in my father’s land of plenty;
sweet and balmy airs caress us,
flowers blossom in ev’ry grove.
Radames
But who has
heard us?
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Amonasro
Aida’s father, Ethiopia’s King.
Aida
Ah no!
Radames (with the utmost agitation and surprise)
You! Amonasro! You! The King?
Heaven! You cannot…
No… It is false… it is false,
this is a nightmare.
Amonasro
No!
Aida
Ah no, be calm, and trust in me –
Amonasro
No. No guilt can fall on you.
Amonasro
You need the love of Aida…
Aida
Ah, trust me…
Aida
My loving hand will lead you.
Amonasro
There where the Nile is glittering,
soldiers of mine are waiting.
Ev’ry desire that your heart has longed for
will soon be crowned in love.
Come then, quickly, quickly.
Radames
For you I played the traitor!
For you I sold my fatherland!
Amonasro
Her love will bring you a throne.
Radames
My name has been dishonour’d!
For you I’ve played the traitor and sold my
fatherland!
(dragging Radames)
14
Amneris (coming out of the temple, with Ramfis)
We’re betrayed!
Aida
Ah, trust me!
Aida
My rival here!
Amonasro
No, no! No guilt can fall on you;
it was the will of fate, it had to happen…
Amonasro (rushing at Amneris with a dagger)
Would you dare to spoil my triumph?
Die then!
Radames
My name has been dishonour’d!
Radames (rushing between them)
Don’t strike her, you madman!
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Amonasro
Oh, fury!
Ramfis
Guards there, come here!
Radames (to Aida and Amonasro)
Quickly! Go quickly!
Amonasro (dragging Aida)
Quickly my daughter!
16
Ramfis (to the guards, who pursue Aida and
Amonasro, who have escaped )
Follow closely!
Radames (to Ramfis)
Priest of Isis, I yield to you.
Act IV
Radames
The judges will never hear from me
any defence or reason;
I pray that the gods may witness here
I never plotted treason.
In innocence I uttered
the words that have offended,
but all that I intended
was to be true, I swear.
Scene 1
A hall in the King’s palace. On the left a large
portal leading to the subterranean hall of justice.
A passage on the right leading to the prison of
Radames. Scene and Duet
(Amneris crouched before the portal )
15
Destroy them! Destroy them!
Oh! Gods forgive me! I love him,
I love him… This insane, despairing
love for him is driving me to madness.
Ah! If only he could love me!
I long to save him… But can I?
I have to! Soldiers: Radames may enter.
(Radames is brought in by the guards.)
Soon all the priests will gather here,
judgment will soon be spoken;
you are accused of treachery;
your silence must be broken;
defend yourself I beg you;
I will appeal to Pharaoh
and beg his royal favour
and beg that he will grant
forgiveness and spare your life.
Amneris
My hated rival has escaped me.
And from the priests now Radames is waiting
the punishment of traitors. A traitor he is not…
yet he revealed the secret plan of battle…
He was about to leave here…
and with Aida. They both are traitors!
Amneris
Then save your life, defend yourself.
Radames
No!
110
Amneris
You will die…
Amneris
I?… Do you think I murdered her!
No, she is living…
Radames
My life is
hateful! Ev’ry pleasure
is turned to bitter ashes,
and hope is gone for ever.
I pray that I may die.
17
Radames
Living!
Amneris
Egypt had tasted victory…
the foe was fleeing blindly…
down went her father…
Amneris
May die!
Ah! You must live, ah, yes
for my love must live.
For you already I have felt
the dreadful pains of death.
I love you… I sigh and languish…
At night I cry in anguish…
My country, my sceptre, my throne and my life,
all I would surrender, I’d surrender it all for you.
Radames
And she?
Amneris
Vanish’d and no one here has
seen her…
Radames
The gods will lead her to
safety among her people,
she’ll never know the torments
of one who dies for her!
Radames
A traitor to my country…
I am dishonour’d and all for her…
Amneris
No more of her…
Amneris
But if I save you, swear to me
you’ll never see her again…
Radames
Dishonour
awaits me, and you would save me?
Misery overwhelms me,
Aida is taken from me…
You may have killed her… before
offering life to me.
Radames
I cannot!
Amneris
You must renounce her
for ever… life will be yours!
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Radames
I cannot!
Amneris
Once more I ask you;
renounce Aida…
Radames
It’s useless…
Amneris
You really want to die then?
19
Radames
I pray that death come soon.
18
Amneris
Who will save you, wretched madman,
who will save you from destruction?
Since you spurn the love I offer,
all my joy is turned to hate.
Gods in heaven grant me vengeance;
see my tears of black despair.
Radames
Death I greet you, welcome I give you,
since I die for her I cherish.
Amneris
Ah, who will save you?
20
Radames
Full of joy, knowing I perish,
full of immense accord with her.
Radames
Full of rejoicing I die for her.
Human anger cannot touch me,
show me pity if you dare.
(Radames and the guards cross the stage, and enter
the hall.)
(Amneris falls despairingly on a chair, Radames
leaves surrounded by guards. Scene of the
Judgement)
Amneris (seeing Radames, with a cry)
Ah! who will save him?
Amneris (alone, in the utmost despair)
Alas! I feel I’m dying… Ah, who will save him?
He is now in their power,
I’m guilty… he is lost! Oh, how I curse the
jealousy that drove me! His death is certain;
for me a life of endless grief and mourning!
(The Priests process into the subterranean hall.)
Oh, how I fear them, these
cruel judges, the lords of destruction…
Ah, I’ll not look upon these pallid phantoms!
(She covers her face with her hands.)
He is now in their power…
and I have sealed his fate!
I’m guilty! He is lost!
Ramfis and Priests (from the hall )
Spirit of Isis on us all descending!
Lighten our darkness with your flame eternal;
now thro’ our lips express thy justice unending!
Amneris
Oh, gods have pity on my tears of anguish;
for he is innocent and you must save him,
you must save him or I shall die of sorrow.
Amneris
Gods in heaven, grant me vengeance,
see, oh, see my tears of black despair.
112
You did desert
Egypt’s armies the day before the start of
battle… defend yourself!
Ramfis and Priests
Spirit of Isis –
Priests
Defend yourself!
Ramfis
He is silent…
Ramfis and Priests
– on us all descending!
Ramfis and Priests
He must die!
Amneris
Ah, who will save him? I feel I will die!
Alas! Alas! I feel I will die!
21
Amneris
Ah, have pity, gods, you must save him,
ah, hear my pray’r!
Ramfis (in the crypt)
Radames! Radames! Radames!
You did betray
your country’s highest secrets to Amonasro…
defend yourself!
Priests
Defend yourself!
Ramfis
Radames! Radames! Radames!
You broke your oath
and were false to your country, your King and
your honour!
Defend yourself!
Ramfis
He is silent…
Priests
Defend yourself!
Ramfis and Priests
He must die!
Ramfis
He is silent…
Amneris
Ah, have pity, gods, you must save him, hear my
pray’r!
Ramfis and Priests
He must die!
Amneris
Ah, have pity, gods, you must save him,
ah, hear my pray’r!
Ramfis
Radames! Radames! Radames!
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Ramfis and Priests
Of death!
Ramfis and Priests
Radames, our decision is taken;
you will suffer the death of a traitor;
by the shrine of the god you’ve forsaken,
you’ll be buried alive in a tomb
Amneris
Ah, you punish, you kill an innocent man.
Ah, no, oh, no, he shall not die.
He has commited no crime…
Ah no, a traitor he is not.
Oh, spare his life!
Amneris
To be buried alive? Cruel monsters!
You will always be thirsty for blood…
and you say you are servants of God!
Amneris
Evil vipers, may you all be accurs’d!
Heaven’s vengeance shall fall upon you!
Scene 2
The stage is divided into two levels. The upper floor
represents the interior of the Temple of Vulcan
resplendent with gold and glittering light. The
lower floor is a crypt. Long arcades vanishing in the
gloom. Colossal statues of Osiris with crossed hands
support the pillars of the vault. Radames is
discovered in the crypt on the steps which lead
down into the vault. Above, two priests in the act of
letting down the stone which closes the subterranean
apartment. Scene and Duet
Last Finale
Ramfis and Priests
Sentence of death! Sentence of death! Of death!
Amneris (to Ramfis)
Priests of Isis, the man you condemn,
you know too well, was my heart’s dear beloved…
may the curse of a woman broken-hearted,
fall on your senses, avenging his blood!
Ramfis and Priests
Sentence of death! Sentence of death! Of death!
Amneris
All the earth and the gods condemn your
verdict…
23
114
Radames
The fatal cover’s now in place above me…
25
Radames (with utmost despair)
You… in this
dark prison!
(The priests leave.)
Amneris
Priests of Isis: you’re guilty of murder!
Pitiless tigers, you reek of destruction.
All the earth and the gods condemn your
verdict…
Ah, you punish an innocent man.
see how his golden wings shine…
He comes to tell us of our joy
and carry us above…
I see the gates of paradise
and then the smile of gods divine…
We two will live in ecstasy,
eternally in love.
Aida
Beside you…
Ramfis and Priests
He has to die!
He shall die, he shall die, he shall die!
Ramfis and Priests (returning from the crypt)
He shall die! He shall die! He shall die!
22
This is my tomb for ever. I’ll never see
the daylight again… never behold Aida…
Aida, where are you now? May you at least be
carefree and happy. Pray that you never learn
my horrible fate! I heard a sound! It’s a
phantom… Is it a vision?… No! It’s a human
figure…
Heav’ns! Aida!
24
Priestesses (from the temple above)
Almighty Phtha, the breathing
spirit of life in us all.
We here implore thee.
Priests
Ah! We here implore thee.
Aida (sadly)
My heart foretold this horrifying sentence.
I saw them raise the cover to confine you!
I crept inside to find you…
and here, away from ev’ry human presence,
close in your arms, I only wish to die here!
Aida
Solemn chanting!
Radames
Yes, the rites of
the priests of Isis…
Radames
To die! So pure and lovely!
To die… because you love me…
delicate, precious flower, so delicate a flower
to fade for ever!
It was for love you were by Heav’n created,
and now you die because I loved too deeply.
No, do not die!
How I adore you, you are so lovely!
Aida
Our hymn of death is ascending.
Radames (trying to displace the stone closing the
vault)
Gods, give my arms the power!
Surely my strength can move this dark, fatal
cover!
Aida
Alas! Now all is over,
there is no hope on earth.
Aida (in a delirium)
See now the messenger of death:
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Radames
Ir’s over, it’s over.
Aida
Farewell, oh life, farewell, oh valley of sorrow…
Our dream of joy has faded far away…
but now the beauty of heav’n is open wide and now
our souls will fly
up to the light of our eternal day.
Radames
Farewell, oh life, farewell, oh valley etc.
Aida
Oh, earth I leave you… etc.
Chorus
Almighty Phtha we here implore!
Aida and Radames
Ah! the beauty of heav’n!
Farewell, oh life, farewell, oh valley of sorrow. etc.
Amneris (dressed in mourning, prostrates herself
on the stone which seals the vault )
Grant me your pardon!… Beloved hero…
May Isis hear you and give you peace!
Chorus
We here implore almighty Phtha!
Aida and Ramades (as she dies)
Of Heav’n… eternal day!
Amneris
Grant me your pardon. Grant me your pardon.
Peace.
Bill Rafferty
Chorus
Almighty Phtha!
English version by Edmund Tracey
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Jane Eaglen
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Bill Cooper
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Bill Cooper
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Clive Barda
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Dennis O’Neill
Gregory Yurisich
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Alastair Miles
Peter Rose
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Alfred Boe
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Opera in English on Chandos
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Opera in English on Chandos
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Opera in English on Chandos
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Opera in English on Chandos
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Opera in English on Chandos
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Chandos 24-bit Recording
The Chandos policy of being at the forefront of technology is now further advanced by the use
of 24-bit recording. 24-bit has a dynamic range that is up to 48dB greater and up to 256 times
the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings. These improvements now let you the listener enjoy
more of the natural clarity and ambience of the ‘Chandos sound’.
Jane Eaglen appears courtesy of Sony Clasical
Staging and off-stage conducting: Charles Kilpatrick
Language and vocal consultant: Ludmilla Andrew
Recording producer Brian Couzens
Sound engineer Ralph Couzens
Assistant engineer Christopher Brooke
Editor Jonathan Cooper
Operas administrator Sue Shortridge
Recording venue Blackheath Halls, London; 23 –28 April 2001
Front cover Photo of Jane Eaglen’s eyes by Bill Cooper
Back cover Photo of David Parry by Bill Cooper
Design Cass Cassidy
Booklet typeset by Dave Partridge
Booklet editor Kara Reed
Copyright English version by Edmund Tracey
p 2002 Chandos Records Ltd
c 2002 Chandos Records Ltd
Chandos Records Ltd, Colchester, Essex CO2 8HQ, England
Printed in the EU
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DIGITAL
2-disc set CHAN 3074(2)
24
AIDA
bit
Opera in four acts
Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, after a scenario by Auguste Mariette
English version by Edmund Tracey
The Pharaoh, King of Egypt ....................................................PETER ROSE bass
Amneris, his daughter......................ROSALIND PLOWRIGHT mezzo-soprano
Aida, an Ethiopian slave ..................................................JANE EAGLEN soprano
Amonasro, King of Ethiopia, Aida’s father........GREGORY YURISICH baritone
Radames, Captain of the Guards ..................................DENNIS O’NEILL tenor
Ramfis, chief priest ..........................................................ALASTAIR MILES bass
The High Priestess ....................................................SUSAN GRITTON soprano
A Messenger ..........................................................................ALFRED BOE tenor
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry
CHANDOS RECORDS LTD
Colchester . Essex . England
DDD
COMPACT DISC TWO
Acts III & IV
TT 62:00
p 2002 Chandos Records Ltd
c 2002 Chandos Records Ltd
Printed in the EU
CHAN 3074(2)
CHANDOS
COMPACT DISC ONE
Acts I & II
TT 79:52
SOLOISTS / PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA / PARRY
VERDI: AIDA
CHANDOS