Music Reviews

Oct 13, 2007 - The sensational Hope Briggs is "Aida" in Nevada Opera's 40th season opener

By Jack Neal

“Aida,” Verdi’s exotic love triangle, opened last night (10/12/07) as Nevada Opera’s opening salvo of its 40th season. When it’s given a stellar presentation, “Aida” is riveting lyric theater. Nevada Opera’s “Aida” is close enough to stellar to be considered a triumph.

Cliffhangers can promote terrific theater and what a difference two days made from a rougher-than-usual dress rehearsal to an “Aida” sculpted by talented hands into operatic hit status. It has the voices for such an ascension. It was just a matter of putting it all together.

One thing for sure, with Claudia Waite indisposed and not able to appear as Aida, the last-minute acquisition of up-and-coming soprano Hope Briggs as her replacement is an acquisition made in heaven. Briggs sings magnificently and brings magnetism, majesty and considerable magic to Verdi’s Ethiopian princess doomed by her across-the-border love for Radames, commander of Egyptian forces.

There’s not a moment when Briggs’s singing does not thrill. Her Act III aria, “O cieli azzurri” is regal in tone, passionate in demeanor, and a sensation of vocal agility. There’s no reason why Briggs should not become a major star on the international opera scene. She alone is worth a trip to Nevada Opera’s current encounter with “Aida.”

The almost-as-good news is that Briggs is not alone in bringing vocal splendor to the production. Mezzo-soprano Gwendolyn Jones, as the haughty, arrogant, also madly-in-love-with-Radames Egyptian Princess, is a terrific Amneris. Amneris, a vicious character that makes Dixie Carter’s mother-in-law in “Desperate Housewives” seem like the girl next door, is smashingly brought off by the mean-spirited (on stage), honey-voiced Jones. The first half of Act IV belongs to Amneris and Jones makes the most of it. Her “L’abborrita rivale a me sfuggia” is a Bette Davis plate-thrower of an aria. Jones misses not one nasty nuance and pulls it off with her gorgeously honed voice thoroughly intact.

As Aida’s father, the defeated Amonosro - King of Ethiopia, baritone Dennis Jesse is noble and profound in both voice and demeanor. As the Egyptian King, bass Stefan Szkafarowsky is an opera pro to the core. With his huge, robust voice and stage-center bearing he commands attention. Bass Matthew Trevino is a stoic High Priest and sings wonderfully. In smaller roles, Manuel Maderos shines, as does Stephanie Frow.

The drawback in the production is tenor Drew Slatton as Radames. Slatton sings well enough, but is not the clarion voiced dynamo who might realistically command the attention of two demanding females vying for his love, not to mention a shrewd King who calls him to lead troops into battle. Slatton’s voice is too tightly reined in to soar to heroic heights as a Radames blessed by the gods.

The Radames role also mirrors the flaw in Kyle Marrero’s directing. While much of Marrero’s staging for the opera’s big moments is impressive, compelling chemistry between principals in the opera’s more intimate scenes is not as convincing as it should be. The encounter between Amneris and Radames in Act IV, for example, lacks the kind of choreographic attention to detail that would give the scene dramatic teeth rather than the tooth-mashing angst treatment it’s getting.

Michael Borowitz conducts and keeps the opera’s massive musical forces tightly in control. “Aida” is a huge undertaking and much of it is geographically awkward. Borowitz has an unerring instinct for being musically subtle allowing the smaller moments in his performances to ring true, yet theatrical enough to make the opera’s big moments play out with a Cecile B. De Mille flair. The Triumphal March is brought off with tasteful restraint, just short of true spectacle, but powerful enough to satisfy. The Nevada Opera Orchestra and Chorus perform with assurance.

Choreographer Barbara Land provides the production with dance that fits the opera’s Egyptian setting. It’s studious without being stodgy and enhances without overpowering. Wolfram Skalicki’s set is large looking without being particularly distinctive. The break in Act IV – a long wait to get the tomb in place - stops the show just when it needs to move on. With the exception of the unflattering getup Stephanie Frow is asked to wear (Pocahontas, perhaps), Susan Allred’s costumes are serviceable and attractive. Don Smith’s lighting is adequate, but little more.

When all is sung and done, the bottom line in opera is music. Verdi’s music is splendid and the singing is too good to miss (as is the orchestra’s playing) making Nevada Opera’s current “Aida” an “Aida” to remember.

Nevada Opera’s “Aida” can be seen October 12 (2007) at 7:30 p.m. and October 14 (2007) at 2 p.m. at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. Cost: $35 to $90. Information at 775-786-4046.