I just realized that I didn’t make any comments about Lyric’s production of Aida we saw last month. Aida and Amneris—very good. Radames—fair. Radames is in an unenviable position. Essentially, he walks out onto the stage and sings the opera’s most famous aria, “Celeste Aida”. Most tenors ignore the composer’s notations and belt the love song out, crescendoing at the final high note. This was no exception.
I’ve seen this production for the last 25 years. The first time I heard it Luciano Pavarotti sang Radames (I don’t recall which critic said he looked like the Goodyear blimp in a dress). We refer to it as the “Smurf production”—the Nubians (with the baffling exception of Aida) sport blue body and facial makeup. All these years later it remains a production of Aida without pageantry. Chicago audiences deserve a new production.
