Aida

Giuseppe Verdi's celebrated 1871 opera tells the tragic tale of Egyptian general Radamès and enslaved Ethiopian princess Aida, who struggle to reconcile their love with their duty to their respective countries. This production from the 2009 Bregenz Festival in Austria leaves much to be desired, in part because of the venue—a cavernous outdoor stage on the shore of Lake Constance—but also due to Graham Vick's misguided staging, which juxtaposes modern costumes with ancient masks, and features prisoners crawling around with their heads covered in black sacks reminiscent of the Abu Ghraib photos. And for some reason the second act's famous triumphal march is turned into a wild dance by soldiers in camouflage gear and women whose necks the men snap in unison at the close. On the musical side, the playing of the Vienna Symphony under Carlo Rizzi (all situated in a separate building apart from the stage) is excellent, but the singing by leads Tatiana Serjan as Aida, Rubens Pelizzari as Radamès, and Iano Tamar as Amneris (the Egyptian princess who also loves Radamès) is merely adequate. Ordinarily one would complain about the substantial cuts in the score, but since the performance here is so mediocre, it hardly matters. Fortunately, many other good examples of Aida exist on DVD (see, for example, VL-11/02 and VL-11/04). Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, this is not recommended. (F. Swietek)