Customer Reviews

Aida [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a Tebaldi fan so there IS a bias. For 1951 this is an excellent introductory offering. The opera purist can find much to complain about here. The biggest of these would be that gorgeous pieces of music are not included or cut. IF you've never heard Aida in its entirety you probably won't notice. The Tebaldi voice in '51 was at its youthful best -- I have yet to hear ANY singer do "pianissimos" the way Tebaldi could! The story is that of a love triangle that ends with the death of two leaving the third desperate with self-recrimination. Sad all around. Aida is in love with Rhadames. Unfortunately so is Amneris the Egyptian Princess. And while Aida is an Ethiopian princess she has been captured by Egypt and is Amneris' slave. Both Amneris & Aida are in love with Rhadames an Egyptian warrior. Rhadames is in love with Aida -- sticky isn't it? During a pivotal battle Aida's father Amonasro is captured but the captors think they've killed the Ethiopian warrior king. One of my personal favorite parts of Aida is "Ma tu oh Re.." in which Aida pleads for the lives of the captured Ethiopians. In this selection you get only a taste of what the entire selection is like. Aida & Rhadames plan on escaping to Ethiopia. Enter Amonasro who having convinced Aida to trick Rhadames into devulging the secret route his soldiers will take for the next battle against Ethiopia announces "There will my army be!" As Rhadames is about to flee with Aida to Ethiopia Amneris arrives and accuses him of treason. Rhadames presents his sword to the high Priest while Aida & Amonasro flee.. During the trial Amneris is distraught "Oh chi l'o salva?" Who will save him? Rhadames id found guilty and sentanced to be buried alive in the tomb. Meanwile, Aida has made her way into the tomb to die with her beloved Rhadames. Above Amneris prays to the gods to give him (Rhadames) peace. Curtain falls. The major arias are left intact. But I still found myself wishing they had NOT left out ANY of the gorgeous music and singing that abound in this opera. IF you're looking to "get your feet wet" this is a very good selection BUT bear in mind that you're not hearing ALL the music. I gave it a 4 because it's incomplete to me AND I would rather have seen Tebaldi than Loren. BUT IT IS A COLLECTOR'S ITEM!! This one film helped launch the careers of both performers. It's worth having for that alone.

This historic movie is in bad shape. Sonically it is 50's bad; visually it is not cleanly transfered; there are major cuts and disjoints. As an early attempt to present opera on film it is interesting. The double cast technique actors/singers is difficult at best. Sophia Loren is beautiful as Aida; and Tebaldi sings it well. However the whole effort doesn't come off very well.

But if you want a historic recording and sample of how not to do opera on film -- this is it.

Fing a good Aida on DVD is difficult. The best I have seen so far is the hard to fine EuroArts dvd of Aida from the Festival of St. Margarethen. The singers were unknown to me as well as the conductor, chorus, and orchestra. The set, performance, and singing are excellent to extraordinary. If you can find it buy it.

A great addition to anyone's collection of cinema oddities. Sophia Loren in blackface, cheesey sets and unusual choreography for the ballet sequences put this film right up there with such classics as "Queen of Outer Space", with Zsa Zsa Gabor. The plot synopsis spoken in English during various parts of the film is somewhat distracting, as are the cuts in the opera score. If your looking for amusement, this may be the Aida for you, but if want a serious production of this opera, you may wish to look elsewhere. There weren't even any elephants in the Triumphal March (that part of the score was hacked too).

Everything the other reviewers have said is true, so there's not too much to add. I will say, however, that I was impressed with the sets and costumes, which were far more sumptuous (albeit tacky) than I had expected. And Loren and Maxwell (what bizarre casting!) are fabulous lip-synchers and throw themselves into their roles with passion and tremendous energy. Unlike the supremely wooden Luciano Della Marra, the ladies look as if they could actually be singing. No, Verdi doesn't quite survive, despite Tebaldi and Company, but one has to believe that the filmmakers had their hearts in the right place, as their respect and affection for the material is palpable in every frame. Given the noble idea of bringing opera to a wider audience, the fact that this "Aida" isn't very good is almost beside the point.

This is strictly a curiosity item.
Nineteen year old Sofia Loren looking lovely in dark body makeup and frizzy wigs plays the Ethiopian princess with the voice of the great Renata Tebaldi; and Lois Maxwell, yes, Lois Maxwell nine years before she became Miss Moneypenny in the first James Bond movie Dr.No(She went on to play the same character in 14 of the Bond films.)plays the Egyptian princess Amneris with the voice of Ebe Stignani, one of the leading mezzosoprani of the first half of the 20th century.
If you are a movie buff and/or an opera buff, (I am both!) you may enjoy this DVD, but as I said before, just as a curiosity item.
It's neither a good movie, there are cuts, jumps, blackouts, terrible editing; nor a good opera presentation. The musical score has not been just abridged but simply mutilated.
The only value of this venture is that it's kind of historical in the sense that in one you get two great divas very early in their careers, Loren from the screen and Tebaldi from the opera stage.
There is a voice over narration in English, but the opera does not have subtitles in any language.

I'm disappointed. It is not what I expected. Aida is a great Opera with many choir sequences. In this film many choir arias are avoided. The opera is shortened. This DVD might be interesting for colectionars of old movies who likes opera, and nothing else.

This is a very interesting movie. Unlike most of the DVDs on sale it is a filmed version of the opera, rather than the recording of a staged opera. I think so much is clear anyway, but I thought I'd mention it in case somebody is in doubt.

So, first the problem: The picture quality is really bad and there are no subtitles. The latter is not such a problem because every scene is introduced by a speaker from the off and a short synopsis of what is to come is given. The picture quality....well is really borderline and drags the movie down. A thorough restoration would be needed.

What about the movie itself? I personally enjoyed it, bearing in mind that it is a Hollywood movie, very much in the style (albeit not the scale) of monumentals such as Spartacus. S. Loren (with a nice tan) looks stunning. In fact, I think she looks better with her artificial black skin color, then she does in reality. She also acts the part well, which is rather rare in opera films.

Summary: If you are into opera-movies, as I am, then this is a must-have. If you are into S. Loren (I am not) then you might consider this film as a curiosity. If you are simply after a good production of Aida, then this DVD is not for you.

A disclaimer at the start of the video says that this DVD has been assembled from surviving sources and is the best available. Really? Was there some sort of opera-lovers' witch hunt, destroying all a but a few extant prints? From the look of what remains there might have been a good-to-great film of Aida somewhere in the dark past, but its hard to tell from what is presented here.

Editing seems to have been performed with a hatchet and scotch tape by a blind, tone-deaf drunkard.

What remains of the music is sung by as good a cast as one might have assembled anywhere in 1951. Tebaldi is in her glory years; Stignani, a veteran by then, shows no sign of decline; Campora was secure and Becchi in fine form. What little of the chorus we get to hear is solid, and the orchestra is fine.

The sets and costumes are Hollywood-style sumptuous and nearly as tacky as you could get, and additional scenes have been staged and music composed and arranged for battle scenes that aren't in the opera.

If you are looking for a video of Verdi's masterpiece DO NOT BUY THIS!

If you are an opera queen looking for a campy party tape, this might do the trick. (The actor playing Radames is pretty enough and there are plenty of hunky shirtless extras in miniskirts to fuel the replay button.)

If you collect cinematic or operatic ephemera, this is for you. Sophia Loren fans will want it, too.