Aida

Verdi (Artist), Nilsson (Artist), Corelli (Artist), Bumbry (Artist), Mehta (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 17, 2006)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000FVR5FC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,236 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Legend..., March 21, 2007

By 

Armand Opera (Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aida (Audio CD)

If you really want to hear some great stuff, and understand Aida in one of it's best records, you must listen to this one. The cast is really the best, first with the great Franco Correlli, performing with a master technique a role that is perfectly suited for his voice; Birgit Nilsson, with this big theater voice that develops Aida with great form and the great Mario Sereni, just the best Amonasro. Zubin Mehta, passionate as always. An Aida that will make your Collection a golden one.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Aida, June 23, 2008

By 

AdlR "AdlR" (Ft. Laud, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aida (Audio CD)

My opinion of this recording is biased because I was fortunate to sit through two days of rehearsals for a production of Aida that Maestro Mehta conducted "way back when..." Ms. Bumbry, who was also singing the part of Amneris in that production, was introduced to the orchestra by the Maestro as "Soprano" Grace Bumbry although opera houses at the time still referred to her as a "Mezzo soprano".
What makes this recording exceptional is its well-tempered even-ness: the voices are properly matched, the orchestra sound is intense but not overwhelming unlike the HVKarajan recording, and Tenor Corelli sings and splendidly ends the aria, Celeste Aida, as Composer Verdi wrote it and intended to be sung.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Verdi's Myth Comes to Life, May 2, 2008

By 

Monica "Minnie" (Romania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aida (Audio CD)

A beautifully conducted Aida, which is rare, indeed: would you believe that the orchestral parts are made to sound like symphony? One of the atypical instances when the listener does not get bored and does not jump to the next track during the ballet scenes when listening to the CD, not watching the show.

Also Zubin Mehta belongs to a very small group of conductors who understand the importance of the Temple Scene. Here many conductors rush on, or do not place enough emphasis on the scene, apparently trying to get rid of it asap! Perhaps sometimes because they don't have the right singers to do it, as it is an extremely difficult moment. But this rendition is different.

Here, Verdi created his own mythology, it doesn't mater that he used the names of Egyptian gods throughout: both he and the librettist seem to have known little about Egypt, but aesthetically, this is a crowning achievement. Verdi, relying on singularly impressive lyrics, which is something usually unheard of at the opera, used his means (voices, harmony, modes) to beget the prayer to the creator god: "Vita dell'universo, Mito d'eterno amor" (life of the universe, myth of eternal love), "fuoco increato" (uncreated fire), "Tu che dal nulla hai tratto L'onde, la terra, il ciel" (Thou who hast created water, earth, and heaven out of nothingness). A crucial scene, in a splendid rendition, placing emphasis on Verdi's harmony and melodic line, bringing forth the sacredness. Although the chorus is a bit too loud by the end.

Wagnerian soprano Birgit Nilsson must have made enormous efforts, sometimes successful, to master the role of Aida, aware that she was up against Franco Corelli. She does sing some beautiful notes, but she is very boring in "Ritorna vincitor" and in "Qui Radames verra . . . O, patria mia." In the Tomb Scene, she sings a beautiful "il ciel" (heaven) (G flat in piano), but without consonants in "Volano al raggio dell'eterno di" ([the wandering souls] are taking flight to the resplendence of eternal glow): she sounds "v....aaaaaa dell'eterno di," but the high notes, especially the B flat, are excellent.

Franco Corelli sings here one of his signature roles, with a very good rendition of the tremendously difficult "Celeste Aida," doing Verdi's morendo on the final B flat. The Tomb Scene is sung a bit unusually, with a more lyric voice. He sounds desperate in "dolor" (suffering) and does his diminuendi on "raggio" and "eterno di."

Mario Sereni is less impressive and not very nuanced in the terribly difficult and crucial role of Amonasro, and Grace Bumbry is too light for Amneris, a dramatic role she should not have tackled. And do not expect to hear Amneris' desperation when she warns Radames against the horrible fate awaiting him and blames herself for her jealousy. But at least in the Tomb Scene, she sounds good, singing a soft prayer, not with brutal and/or dark sounds as some mezzo sopranos tend to.