Graham Vick specialises in staging operas in bizarre settings. Every year he stages an opera in Birmingham, usually in a deserted factory . This staging of Aida is on an artificial island off the shore of Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria. His budget was probably about a thousand times what he has to spend in Birmingham but the production has some familiar Vick traits. It is in modern dress, give or take the odd Egyptian headdress, We have people wandering round the stage with bags over their heads, a chorus of policemen with riot shields and Ethiopian prisoners wearing reflective jackets. The set consists of a gigantic pair of blue feet mounted on a stone staircase. There is also a sort of cracked Statue of Liberty that is hoist over the proceedings midway through the first act.
Musically, the production is less impressive. It is difficult for two people to sing together when they are standing at either end of an island. Although the sound is miked it sounds tinny and entrances are sometimes a bit scrappy as though the singers could not see the conductor's beat. I assume that the numerous bollards placed around the stage hide monitors showing Carlo Rizzi conducting.
As may be expected, the lake is used as often as possible. People are pushed into it. People fall into it. People jump into it. People emerge from it. The ballet is danced in the water with risible effect. I pitied the poor dancers. Ramades' entrance during the grand march is on a huge, pink, plastic elephant mounted on a motor-boat.
So far so bad. Things improve in the more intimate scenes in the second act. The sound quality seems to get better and the singers are, literally, more together. The singing generally is of a good provincial standard. Tatiana Serjan, as Aida, is the best of the bunch although her "O Patria Mia" falls rather flat. Rubens Pelizzari is a strangely uninvolved Ramades, more concerned with what piece of scenery he has to pose on than with producing a dramatic performance. Iano Tanar is a disappointing Amneris with none of the creamy low notes that this part demands.
Graham Vick does pull off one coup de théâtre in the final scene. Instead of being walled up in a tomb, Ramades dies, predictably enough, by drowning. He then appears on a boat with Aida to sing their final duet. The assumption is that he is now already dead and they are on their way to heaven together. The boat is hoisted out of the water, high into the sky and then swings over the lake to disappear into the night sky. The effect would appear even more effective if Rubens Pelizzari did not look so terrified.
The applause from the audience of 7000 tourists, seems distinctly muted. They are briefly shown and many of them are wearing plastic macs and rain hats so maybe it was not just the unfortunate performers who got drenched that night. At St. Margarethen, in Switzerland, they do this sort of thing much better in an old quarry. They even have a real elephant. This production, with its over-sized props, silly costumes and frequent duckings in the lake reminded me most of that silly 1960's game show Jeux Sans Frontières. Aida never fails to bring tears to my eyes. On this occasion they were tears of laughter.
Musically, the production is less impressive. It is difficult for two people to sing together when they are standing at either end of an island. Although the sound is miked it sounds tinny and entrances are sometimes a bit scrappy as though the singers could not see the conductor's beat. I assume that the numerous bollards placed around the stage hide monitors showing Carlo Rizzi conducting.
As may be expected, the lake is used as often as possible. People are pushed into it. People fall into it. People jump into it. People emerge from it. The ballet is danced in the water with risible effect. I pitied the poor dancers. Ramades' entrance during the grand march is on a huge, pink, plastic elephant mounted on a motor-boat.
So far so bad. Things improve in the more intimate scenes in the second act. The sound quality seems to get better and the singers are, literally, more together. The singing generally is of a good provincial standard. Tatiana Serjan, as Aida, is the best of the bunch although her "O Patria Mia" falls rather flat. Rubens Pelizzari is a strangely uninvolved Ramades, more concerned with what piece of scenery he has to pose on than with producing a dramatic performance. Iano Tanar is a disappointing Amneris with none of the creamy low notes that this part demands.
Graham Vick does pull off one coup de théâtre in the final scene. Instead of being walled up in a tomb, Ramades dies, predictably enough, by drowning. He then appears on a boat with Aida to sing their final duet. The assumption is that he is now already dead and they are on their way to heaven together. The boat is hoisted out of the water, high into the sky and then swings over the lake to disappear into the night sky. The effect would appear even more effective if Rubens Pelizzari did not look so terrified.
The applause from the audience of 7000 tourists, seems distinctly muted. They are briefly shown and many of them are wearing plastic macs and rain hats so maybe it was not just the unfortunate performers who got drenched that night. At St. Margarethen, in Switzerland, they do this sort of thing much better in an old quarry. They even have a real elephant. This production, with its over-sized props, silly costumes and frequent duckings in the lake reminded me most of that silly 1960's game show Jeux Sans Frontières. Aida never fails to bring tears to my eyes. On this occasion they were tears of laughter.