Verdi: Aida

[knight66]

Verdi Aida, Warner 3 CDs: Pappano, Harteros, Kaufmann, Semenchuk, Tezier, Schrott, Santa Cecelia Orchestra and Chorus

For many years and despite a deal of competition my favourite recoding of this opera has been Solti with Price, Vickers and Gorr. Solti rushes much of it headlong and some listeners can't stand his conducting, especially on that set; but the soloists are fantastic. Although I remain faithful to Vickers and Price, the new set beats the Solti, and all the other sets I have, in a number of ways.

Most of the difference is caused by Pappano, he retains the drama, but brings out passage after passage, beautifully played, often tender always with great phrasing. The singers, even Schrott who I have in the past found vulgar, also phrase beautifully. It feels like he has rehearsed the soloists closely and created fruitful partnerships with them all. Everyone sings through phrases, but also make full dramatic sense of them.

Harteros does not have a glamorous voice, there is a lack of beautiful tone other than when she is below forte. But she really conveys a character and uses the words so well that I am happy to keep returning to this set. Kaufmann just sings so beautifully and imaginatively; time after time he pulls the ear in by singing mezzo piano where Corelli belts it out on the Mehta set. He provides a spinetingling diminuendo at the end of Celeste Aida giving notice of what is to come.

Semenchuk sings very well with the right weight of voice and with plenty of passion. This is a good quality East European voice with the swallowed sound their singers often have. I would prefer a voice production drawn more into the mask of the face. But she is excellent in many ways, again, as do they all, she provides musical phrasing that helps make the music flow through.

The orchestra is wonderful, as beautiful and powerful as any in this work and endlessly subtle with layers of beautiful sound, especially from the woodwind. The sound quality is excellent. This opera has two heroes, Pappano as well as his tenor. I hope they will give us an Otello together.

It is available at a bargain price for two, let alone three discs. There are notes and libretto. I hope the sales encourage Warners to go back into the studios for more opera.

Mike

[Jaakko Keskinen]

One of my favorite Verdi operas, with no notable flaws with the possible exception of Amneris being so powerful role that she tends to overshadow Aida's meek character. And that really doesn't bother me at all. Not sure what is my favorite recording, although Muti has an excellent one.

[knight66]

I would be very happy to have people chip in on their opinions of the sets already out there.

The Muti is excellent, especially with Caballe who is able to float the high notes and ride the ensembles where necessary. I have never been fond of Domingo whose work is always reliable but who to me usually provides generalised characterisations. The first and second Karajan sets are well thought of, though above those I would prefer the Callas/Gobbi performance on Warner. I have a few sets, old and less old, but would like others to say what they think.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

Well I gave in to the marketing and bought this new set. I'm not sure why. Aida isn't even my favourite Verdi opera, and yet I now have five recordings of it.

Presentation of this new studio recording (a rarity in itself these days) harks back to the old days. A nice hard back book, acts I and II given a CD each, with the last two acts on the final CD. Full text, translations and notes in three languages are included, with copious photos of the sessions, and all at an introductory bargain price. Warner have put a lot of faith in the enterprise, and I hope it will be a success, if only to precipitate more new studio recordings of opera.

So what of the performance? Well, to my mind, the two stars are Kaufmann and Pappano. Kaufmann fulfills all the requirements for strong heroic tone and lyrical poetry. The ending of Celeste Aida is one of the best I've heard, hitting the top Bb mezzoforte, then making a diminuendo to a truly ppp morendo close. He is every inch the noble warrior, the tender lover, and the tormented man torn between the two. It is a considerable achievement and one of the best Radames we have had on disc.

Pappano's shaping of the score is excellent and in the best Italian tradition, less self conscious than Karajan I, less apt to push the orchestra into the foreground than Karajan II and far preferable to the bombastic Solti. His balancing of the score's public and private elements is just about perfect, and his Santa Cecilia orchestra play brilliantly for him. The sound too is very good, achieving an excellent balance between orchestra and singers, who are never drowned out as they are in Karajan II.

The rest have all I think been bettered elsewhere. Best of them is Ludovic Tezier's Amonasro, a baritone with a good solid centre to his tone, and an almost Gobbi-like grasp of the role's dramatic demands. I have heard much firmer basses in the roles of Ramfis and the King than Erwin Schrott and Marco Spotti and neither of them makes much of an impression.

Of the two women, Ekaterina Semenchuk has all the notes and power for Amneris, just missing out on a really individual response to the words. I liked her quite a lot, though not as much as my favourite, Baltsa. As for Harteros, I have equivocal feelings. There are times when the role taxes her to the limit, and the ascent to top C in O patria mia is hard won, the final note thin, acrid and not quite in tune. She is easily outclassed by Caballe here. However she uses the words wonderfully well, and is thoroughly inside the role. My problem is that, though more responsive to the text than, say, Price or Tebadi, I find the voice itself somewhat anonymous. In some ways she reminds me of Freni, also a singer on the light side, and who also sings well off the words, but Freni makes the pleasanter, more individual sound.

So maybe not the last word in Aida recordings. I won't be throwing away Karajan II and certainly not Callas under Serafin (also now on Warner) or in any of the live recordings I have, but I will certainly be returning to it, especially for the contributions of Kaufmann and Pappano.

Solti, as you know, Mike, I can't take in Verdi, and, for me, he ruins the set with Price and Vickers. I'm not all that fond of Gorr's Amneris either, which, to my ears, sounds far too matronly. Muti is a safe bet, with Caballe giving one of her best performances on disc, and I rather like Karajan's second take on the opera, particularly Baltsa's young princess, but retain my affection for Callas and Gobbi with Serafin. I'm not sure Aida was ever a Callas role, even when she was hurling out a top Eb of gargantuan proportions in the Triumphal Scene in Mexico, but she makes more of the character than any, and the Nile Scene with her and Gobbi is simply tremendous.

[Tsaraslondon]

This opera has two heroes, Pappano as well as his tenor. I hope they will give us an Otello together.

Now that would be something. Harteros might just be the right Desdemona too. The role would tax her less than Aida certainly.

[knight66]

Now that would be something. Harteros might just be the right Desdemona too. The role would tax her less than Aida certainly.

Our feelings pretty much mesh; though unexpectedly, I enjoyed Schrott, a first for me. I have a live radio studio recording of Jessye Norman in the opera and I listened through to it yesterday thinking that in 1973, she would fulfil the needs here, but she does not. It sounds too heavy for her. There are no other compelling reasons to get hold of the set.

It was you I had in mind when I referred to the dislike for Solti's Aida. I agree with you that the Callas set provides a full measure of drama; but the new set offers better sound and more detail from the orchestra. It makes a good case for stressing how Verdi moved right away from the orchestra merely accompaning the singers or providing an introductory atmosphere.

I like Karajan II with Baltsa; but the engineering of that set really disturbs the experience. The singers are sunk into the sound picture and seem to have to fight with the orchestra to be heard. Karajan produced several sets with this problem, clearly it was his choice to treat the singers as additional orchestral instruments.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

I like Karajan II with Baltsa; but the engineering of that set really disturbs the experience. The singers are sunk into the sound picture and seem to have to fight with the orchestra to be heard. Karajan produced several sets with this problem, clearly it was his choice to treat the singers as additional orchestral instruments.

Mike

I agree with you about the recording. My main problem is with the ridiculously wide dynamic range. With the sound turned up high enough to the hear the quieter sections of the score, you are likely to blasted out of your sight for the next orchestral tutti. It might be thrilling if you have the luxury of a sound-proofed listening room in the middle of the country, but if you live in a small flat in the middle of a big city, as I do, it makes listening a very uncomfortable experience. Mind you it's nowhere near as bad as his Don Carlo in this respect, possibly because it was recorded in Vienna rather than in Berlin.

[Drasko]

This opera has two heroes, Pappano as well as his tenor. I hope they will give us an Otello together.

... and hope it doesn't come with Domingo as Iago 

[mc ukrneal]

Very interesting. There is no 'perfect' Aida and it seems this set continues this trend. It requires at least 4 top singers and having only one makes me wary of getting it, but maybe there will be a deal along the way. That said, I like the Solti. Don't see the problem with his conducting. The best sung that I have is the Bjorling/Milanov/Barbieri/Warren. The problem with it is the god awful sound, which gives the effect of being performed in a mono bathtub with all the worst you can imagine. It's such a shame, because the singing is just so good. Admittedly, I have the original issue on cd, so if they improved it, it may be worth another look.

[Tsaraslondon]

That said, I like the Solti. Don't see the problem with his conducting.

Like all his Verdi - bombastic; no sense of the long, lyrical line; climaxes hammered home for all they are worth. Need I go on.

Pappano's is quite possibly the best conducted version I've heard.

Incidentally, I don't much like Milanov in anything. Always found her dull as ditchwater. If we're talking of best sung Aida (the character) I think she yields to Caballe and Price.

[Super Blood Moon]

Don't cry for me; I'm Aida!

[mc ukrneal]

Like all his Verdi - bombastic; no sense of the long, lyrical line; climaxes hammered home for all they are worth. Need I go on.

Pappano's is quite possibly the best conducted version I've heard.

Incidentally, I don't much like Milanov in anything. Always found her dull as ditchwater. If we're talking of best sung Aida (the character) I think she yields to Caballe and Price.

Well, I like some of what you don't like, but would not agree about the lyrical/long line, but hey, that's why they have different versions.

I agree with you on Milanov to some degree, but I like the foursome as a whole. And she is better here than in some other recordings I have heard of her.

[shell]

Like all his Verdi - bombastic; no sense of the long, lyrical line; climaxes hammered home for all they are worth. Need I go on.

Not just his Verdi, I dislike his Wagner for the same reason. It's actually even worse in Wagner since those operas are all about the long line and a measure by measure conductor like Solti damages the melodic flow.

And the constant underlining--Solti reminds me of my grad school classmates who used to highlight every other sentence in their texts.

[ritter]

Not just his Verdi, I dislike his Wagner for the same reason. It's actually even worse in Wagner since those operas are all about the long line and a measure by measure conductor like Solti damages the melodic flow.

And the constant underlining--Solti reminds me of my grad school classmates who used to highlight every other sentence in their texts.

Exactly the same reservations I have with Solti in Wagner (and almost everyting else)...The end result is one of constant feverishness and nervousness, which might be very theatrical, but detracts from the overall enjoyment of the music, IMHO. Having said that, his Tannhäuser I find quite accomplshed..

Back to topic, I listened to this new Decca Aïda while browsing in that lovely CD shop Die Zauberflöte in Munich (the owner was pleased that I asked whether it was "the new Pappano Aïda", not "the new Kaufmann Aïda"  ), and found it rather good (granted, it was a cursory listen)...

[shell]

Ok, back on topic

I listened to the Pappano when they were streaming it pre-release. I thought it was good not great, for an opera with a lot of pretty classic recordings. I like Kaufmann in Verdi but not as much as I like him in Wagner, and I wasn't really that wowed by Harteros--I thought she seemed a little strained at times, but I'm not that familiar with her so it might just be how she sounds.

I'm less crazy about Aida than about many other Verdi operas. I think this new one is a quality recording and I wouldn't sneer at anyone for preferring it overall, but I'll probably not buy it. I tend to split up my listening between the Bjorling/Milanov/Perlea, the Callas/Tucker/Serafin and the Price/Domingo/Leinsdorf.

[jochanaan]

What's the consensus on the classic Toscanini/NBC recording?  I find it poorly recorded, with somewhat uneven vocals (Richard Tucker is wonderful as Radames, Herva Nelli somewhat less so as Aida, and a very young Teresa Stich-Randall sounds just lovely as the Priestess in Act I, Scene 2), fine choral work by the Robert Shaw Chorale, and utterly compelling conducting by the legendary Toscanini.

[knight66]

It is a long time since I heard the Toscinini; I used to have it on vinal. For me it suffered from the usual Toscanini defect in the Italian repertoire; while the male singers do well, the female ones somehow do better under other conductors.

While I rebought his Otello and Falstaff on CD, I did not buy the Aida, in part due to the Aida and for the notorioriously hard sound.

Mike

[king ubu]

It is a long time since I heard the Toscinini; I used to have it on vinal.

Is that viral? 

Sersiously, thanks to you and Tsaras for the reports on the new recording ... nearly bought it on yesterday's shopping spree (went for the new Igor Levit and part 2 the Schumann trilogy by Faust/Queyras/Melnikov). As I'm quite fascinated by Harteros (which does not mean: won over), my curiosity is piqued now and this goes onto the shopping list indeed!

[knight66]

Well do report back once you have had a listen.

Mike

[El Chupacabra]

I would be very happy to have people chip in on their opinions of the sets already out there.

My favorites are Perlea, Muti (2001 re-issue), Karajan '59 and Solti. I especially love Gorr and Vickers under the Great Solti. Maazel, Karajan (chamber opera) and Mehta are the ones that I'm not very fond of. I can place Abbado after my favorites