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Russian State Opera, Aida, Madam Butterfly, Vienna Festival elegant and stylish programme for 2020 Spring Tour.
Has photos about the production of this Verdi opera.
Aida
The singing was Russian in style, particularly the male singers, and it sounded more like a production of Boris Godunov than Aida, particularly the Pharaoh, Ramades and the Priests.
The performances were however powerful and passionate although this style gave the production a slightly different angle from what we are used to.
The scenery consisted of painted large light brown temple like pillars on either side of the stage, with relief Egyptian bass relief statues and hieroglyphics throughout, with a series of small steps in the middle which was used for the final tomb scene.
There was also the use of photo montage with Thebes viewed from the Nile in the background in Act 1.
All quite impressive.
The costumes were particularly effective and colourful, in Egyptian style, especially for the priests, in white robes and metal helmets, and the Pharaoh, Ramades and Amneris, who wore Hollywood film style regalia that would not have looked out of place on Sodom and Gomorrah with gold lame in abundance with her white dress.
All in all, an attempt at a Cecil B. DeMille set.
The orchestral playing was by the National Opera & Ballet Theatre orchestra, conducted by Grigorii Arkhipov.
Aida was sung by Elvira Gureva and Anastasia Ivakina, Ramades by Mihail Makarov, Dmitry Semkin and Anton Ivanov, the King of Egypt by Sergei Garashkin, Amanastro by Vladislav Kalashnikov, Ramfist by Ilnar Davietshin and Mihail Naumov, and the Priestess by Valeriya Balandina and Anna Fomicheva.
The last production appeared at the St. Albans Arena on 18th March.
Postage extra or collection in person free.
