Aida reviews roll in

Opinions, everybody's got one. Here are the reviews in so far for the Royal Opera House's new David McVicar Aida:

Edward Seckerson, the Independent - "It isn’t pretty but it’s a whole lot more pertinent than the picture book inspired Cecil B. DeMille approach" 4 stars

Andrew Clements, the Guardian - "the boos for the production team at the final curtain were aimed at the wrong target" 3 stars

Richard Morrison, the Times - "although the conductor Nicola Luisotti doesn’t always obtain perfect rapport, I liked his verve and his swashbuckling speeds. It made a disappointing evening shorter" 2 stars

Barry Millington, the Evening Standard - "I haven’t seen so much bare flesh since — well, McVicar’s last production" 3 stars

William Hartston, the Express - "a splendid evening of Verdi's greatest music, complete with all the mystic rituals and human sacrifices that make up Ancient Egypt, and some brilliantly energetic choreography" 4/5

George Hall, the Stage - "it certainly packs a theatrical punch and covers the emotional and intellectual terrain of the piece with easy assurance"

Jenny Beeston, What's on Stage - "It's not always visually coherent, but you can't complain there's nothing to look at" 3 stars

Igor Toronyi-Lalic, the Arts Desk - "McVicar at his best and worst"

Dominic McHugh, musicalcriticism.com - "the lack of purpose, the ugliness of the sets and the clashes of style prevent this from becoming an ROH classic" 3 stars

Alexander Campbell, classicalsource.com - "it felt as if the energy spent on trying to do something conceptually new had resulted in a rather traditional staging but in a different setting"

Reuters - "a production which divided a packed audience on the first night late on Tuesday"

Late runners:

Andrew Clark, Financial Times - "What’s so disappointing about McVicar’s approach in this production is how old-fashioned it is; worse than that, it is tempting to feel that he has exploited Aida’s status as a box-office cert purely for his own gratification" 1 star

David Gillard, Daily Mail - "There's no denying that McVicar's staging has moments of high-octane energy and real theatrical flair, but the gloom is unremitting and the evening's finest moments are musical ones" 2 stars

And a few interviews:

Nicola Luisotti talks to What's on Stage

Micaela Carosi (Aida) talks to Opera Today

Marcelo Alvarez (Radames) talks to the Times

I understand David McVicar may be talking to Tom Service on Radio 3's Music Matters on Saturday 1 May. But it's not showing on the schedules and I can't remember who told me, so I could conceivably be making this up.

 

Comments

[Nik]

Would that we were all as easily entertained as Mr Hartston. This may be his bid to establish himself as one of the world's best critics, perhaps the best of all for Verdi.

[Ruth]

I love the Barry Millington quote! Am seeing this next Tuesday, so may come back with my thoughts...

[Brian]

Rupert Christiansen's review in the Telegraph has appeared in the paper edition. Pretty damning and only rated 2 stars.

From all I've read, I'm quite satisfied that I obeyed my rule of not booking for a new production of a familiar opera, and that I was lucky enough to see the Met Opera one on HD last autumn, despite Gatti's conducting!

[a mac]

I looked at the Telegraph review but I am pretty sure it was bylined Ivan Hewett and so did not read it ! ( I have since tried to find it online but can't)

If it was Christiansen's I probably would have done ! I am going on Saturday - so I don't want too many preconceived ideas.

Out of interest a few cheap side amphitheatre tickets came up on-line today; a went quite quickly.

[Rannaldini]

Seen this new production. The problem with mcVicar is that he gives us a "Gilded Lily" every thime which is all very nice and so forth and then he over gilds it and goes too far and it becomes farce and camp and ridiculous. He is absolutely at his best when he is the subject of strong and firm oversight and management. He might personally find that frustrating, but it does actually deliver better productions for us. This was musically OK, (at least nicely conducted) but the dancing and childish titilation that is SO OFTEN the mark of a McVicar production just grates after 10 minutes. OK its a different genre, but think about how Ponelle titlated our intellects and other things by suggestions. A tease if often better David....

[a mac]

I think Aida is like football very much a game of two halves ! The first large scale and grand, the second half fairly small and intimate. Most of the chorus and extras are probably at home tucked up in bed by the time the thing finishes.

The big problem was that the best part of the production is in the ensemble and the orchestral playing all of which dominate the first half. Come the second half it seemed to hit problems - not least because Carosi was pretty awful and all the singers were left stranded in vast empty set; looking for all the world like the last few to leave a party as their taxis hasn't turned up yet !

Although overall I thought Alvarez was a lot better than I had expected. The rest of the cast was pretty ok - I specially enjoyed Robert Lloyd as the King - for a guy who is 70 - pretty damn good.

I was slightly surprised to find it very similar to the previous but one production which premièred with Studer in 1994.

Although the costumes and dancing had been "pimped" up (some of it by several degrees of magnitude) the basic structure was mostly the same.

I expect it will be with us for a few years yet - it is already coming back next year. Plenty of time to find an Aida !!