OPERA REVIEW: Aida - The Opera House, Manchester.

Possibly the most well-known and loved of Verdi's many operas, Aida, a story of love, war, and betrayal in Ancient Egypt, concluded the trio of operas at Manchester's Opera House, kickstarting their latest UK tour.

This production, presented by Ellen Kent productions in conjunction with The Ukrainian Opera And Ballet Theatre, stays very true to the ideas and performance mores of the era in which it was written. As with all Ellen Kent operas, you know that you will be in for a very traditional and faithful retelling of the composers' visions. Sometimes there is merit in reinventing the wheel, and when it works, it works superbly; however, all to often these days directors and producers feel the need to change and update simply for the sake of it, and these productions undoubtedly fail to impress or be meritorious. Conversely, with a Kent production, you know before you go that you will be in for a feast of the senses, in glorious technicolour so to speak. 

Librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni and the Europe of the 1800s didn't really care about historical authenticity, and so this spectacle relies on pageantry and customs prevalent in a Victorian Europe rather than trying to accurately represent the world of Egypt and Ethiopia several thousand years' ago. One can hardly grumble then at this production's set and costume design, since they were simply continuing this tradition of placing both set and costume in a romanticised version of the past, utilising Greco-Roman architectural themes and costumes as a base, blending them with a few Egyptian and Persian ideas too. It's all about the spectacle, the feel, the look, and much less about historical accuracy.

There would / should also have been a triumphant Radames entering during the procession astride a beautiful black stallion, but sadly, ATG Theatres seem to have changed their live animal policy, and so the horse won't be appearing at any ATG venue unfortunately.

However, when it comes to spectacle, then we didn't feel short-changed at all. A fire-spinner (Adam Scott) performed during the Triumphal Procession, and the Ukrainian company was ameliorated by teenagers and youngsters from both Stagecoach Theatre Arts in Salford, and The Cheshire Theatre School who filled the stage with young ballet dancers and Ethiopian slaves.

Aida (Olga Perrier), a beautiful Ethiopian, and daughter to the King Amonasro (Olexandr Forkushak), is captured by the Captain of the Egyptian Guard, Ramades (Vitalii Liskovetskyi), and although he is already in love with Amneris, (Natalia Matveeva). daughter to the Pharaoh (Eugeniu Ganea), falls madly in love with her, and she with him. It's a recipe for disaster and worthy of Grand Opera. Of course all these principals were more than worthy of their roles, and in fact the quality of acting (something which sometimes is very much side-lined in Grand Opera in favour of vocals) was surprisingly high. However, for me there were two stand-out performances over and above; and these came from the energetic and visceral performance of baritone Olexandr Forkushak as Amonasro, and the beatifully sonorous and crystal clear bass tones of Valeriu Cojocaru as Ramfis, High Priest to the Pharaoh. 

A great finish to the three evenings of opera at Manchester, which became quite emotional at the curtain call, as conductor Vasyl Vasylenko took to the stage amid a large Ukrainian flag and the company played and sang the Ukrainian National Anthem. When you realise that only a short couple of weeks' ago, this company were rehearsing these operas in war-torn Kiev, and travelled through war-zones in order to get to the UK, the themes of the opera became all the more relevant and real.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 29.1.23