to which the priests respond; a sacred dance to slow and sad music; a short recitative, powerful and solemn like a biblical psalm; and a prayer in two stanzas, sung by the priest and repeated by all. I should like it to have a sad, quiet character....”
The dramatic platform for Aida is a series of oppositions, generating from a war between Egypt and Ethiopia, and played out emotionally in the conflict between freedom and slavery and love and duty.
The orchestral colors are perfumed and mysterious, featuring solo harp, two flutes and piccolo in an exotic accompaniment to the Sacred Dance of the Priestesses. Harp and timpani, together with two choruses— one onstage and the other offstage— climax in the declaration“ Almighty Phthà!” which brings down the curtain.
In Act II, Scene 1, Amneris dresses for a victorious celebration: she is entertained by a harp solo and Moorish slaves, who dance to the sound of woodwinds, strings, and triangle. She fantasizes about a romantic reunion with Radamès, but calls for silence when Aida enters. Amneris manipulates the troubled woman, her deceitful words shadowed throughout by a solo bassoon. An offstage fanfare and chorus interrupt the unsavory exchange to declare victory and bring the act to a close with the famous“ Triumphal Scene.” The scene is a magnificent procession of royalty, officers, priests, captains, fan bearers, standard bearers, slaves, and prisoners, among them Aida’ s father, Amonasro. Listeners will recognize the return of the walking bass of the prelude, now understood, literally, as a march. The thrilling centerpiece of this grand finale is the socalled“ Grand March,” featuring stereophonic trumpets and startling tonal shifts. A ballet follows and the scene concludes with a reprise of the opening chorus.
Act III contains two“ tinte [ colors ]” or sonorities, one private and the other public. The opening tableau is still, atmospheric: unison violins, like“ twinkling” stars, skip across four octaves; pizzicatos in the violas follow the same path, and lovely, diffuse moonbeams can be heard in distant, high harmonics played by the cellos. A solo flute joins, and offstage prayers float from the temple of Isis. Aida enters cautiously, as solo flute, oboe, and clarinet introduce“ O patria mia,” Aida’ s invocations to the“ blessed haven of her homeland.”
Amonasro enters the scene to remind Aida that the Egyptians will destroy her people: she must learn their war strategy from Radamès. A love duet is suddenly subsumed by the full orchestra. Amneris has overheard the lovers and Radamès is arrested as a traitor.
The“ Judgment Scene” is one of the most spine-chilling musical, dramatic— and unseen— tableaux in all of opera. The offstage trial is filtered through the despair of Amneris, who reacts to each declaration of the judges, whose words are punctuated by a fanfare of trumpets and trombones. The finale ultimo unfolds in stunning visual and aural counterpoint: Amneris, prostrating herself above the tomb prays for peace, Aida and Radamès, below, sing their farewells and dream of eternal love(“ O terra addio”), while an offstage chorus praises Pthà. The curtain falls slowly as the lament of a solo violin fades into oblivion.
— Helen M. Greenwald ***
Instrumentation: Three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, percussion, timpani, harp, and strings, in addition to the vocal soloists and banda( six Egyptian“ Aida” trumpets, military band, and harp).
Helen M. Greenwald is the author of numerous scholarly articles on vocal music from the 18th to the 20th centuries, and has edited or collaborated on the critical editions of Rossini’ s Zelmira( Fondazione Rossini, 2005), Mascagni’ s Cavalleria rusticana( Baerenreiter, forthcoming), and Verdi’ s Attila( Ricordi / University of Chicago Press, 2013), which was premiered in 2010 by Ricardo Muti in his Metropolitan Opera debut. Other publications include the Oxford Handbook of Opera( Oxford University Press, 2014; paperback, 2022) and a monograph on Verdi’ s Rigoletto she is writing for Oxford University Press. She has written program essays for an international array of arts institutions, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, La Scala( Milan), The Royal Opera House( London), the Teatro Regio( Parma), The Bavarian State Opera( Munich), the Gran Teatre del Liceu( Barcelona), the Maggio Musicale( Florence), and the Metropolitan Opera( New York).
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