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| Verdi - Aida | 
 enlarge | Actors: Kate Aldrich, Scott Piper, Adina Aaron, Massimiliano Stefanelli, Paolo Pecchioli
Studio: Tdk DVD Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $18.25
You Save: $6.74 (27%)
New (8) Used (3) from $18.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 15439
Format: Ac-3, Classical, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Italian (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 142
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: AIDDBM
UPC: 824121001674
EAN: 0824121001674
ASIN: B000FWGVWO
Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Release Date: November 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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| Similar Items:
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| Customer Reviews:
A special gift: Franco Zeffirelli directing Grand Opera in an intimate setting August 19, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi's death, Franco Zeffirelli organized this performance of "Aida" as a workshop for young performers. The opera is staged in Verdi's hometown of Busetto at the small 350 seat Teatro Giuseppe Verdi. This set of two DVD's is worth owning just to see the 45 minute documentary feature in which we are flies on the wall at the master classes conducted by Zeffirelli for the young soloists who were selected after an international audition.
The great Verdi tenor from the 1950's, Carlo Bergonzi, serves as their vocal coach. Zeffirelli is their stage director and works with them on character interpretation and development. We're not used to seeing singers in their early 20's perform the roles of Radames, Amneris, and Aida. Zeffirelli challenges them (and us) to think about the characters in a new way - as young people, who, for the first time are exploring love, witnessing the cruelty of the world, facing the decision of whether to choose another over oneself. (Aida and Amneris both must face this choice and, as we know, follow different paths.)
Zeffirelli talks about each character in detail as the performers, in street clothes and in a small rehearsal room, practice their arias just inches in front of him. For example, Zeffirelli tells Kate Aldrich that she is not to play Amneris as the femme fatale we're used to seeing, but instead should think of her as a young, inexperienced girl of privilege who is used to getting her way and has no idea that her impulsive actions could have such tragic real-life consequences. The result of Zeffirelli's work with these young performers is that we see this familiar opera through new eyes.
The performance of the opera itself is captivating. In one of the master classes, when Zeffirelli begins to talk about the Triumphal March, he says (with a twinkle in his eye), "They're going to expect elephants, but they won't get them." No we won't. An adult elephant would fill the entire stage, leaving no room for the performers! The full impact of the small size of the stage isn't apparent until the camera pulls back during the curtain call and we see that the stage isn't even a rectangle. It's a square. It's smaller than the stage that sat at one end of my junior high school gym!
Can Grand Opera work on such a small stage? Yes. It works because, as I've indicated, Zeffirelli focuses on the characters, not the spectacle. For example, the Triumphal March takes place off stage. The performers turn their backs to us and, along with them, we must imagine the procession going past as we listen to Verdi's magnificent score. Only Aida faces us, sharing the pain she's experiencing at knowing that her own people are being marched by as prisoners.
If this performance were on CD, you'd probably chose another version - one with Placido Domingo, Leontyne Price, Dolora Zajick...the list of great performers who played the three leads is a long one. Adina Aaron, who plays Aida in this production, says in the documentary, "Who knows? Maybe it will open the door to our careers or maybe it will just mean that we can say to people that we've worked with one of the great directors of all time." Well, I googled the names of the three leads (who happen to all be American). It appears that they've yet to make it to The Met. They're playing at the Dayton Opera, the Utah Opera, the Michigan Opera. So, yes, the voices on this DVD aren't always as great as those we're used to hearing. But what makes this DVD so special is that these young performers are able to realize Zeffirelli's vision and give us the gift of Grand Opera in an intimate setting.
At the end of the documentary, Zeffirelli says, "The chance to work with young artists was what seduced me into doing this. It was like a flight of doves. They came from all over the world like doves called by desire." You too will be seduced by these young, earnest, talented performers.
An astonishing Aida; smaller is better! November 24, 2007
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
I agree with the earlier reviewer's five star assessment of this production. What a joy to hear and see an "Aida" in which the singers (coached by Carlo Bergonzi!) are young and excellent, both vocally and dramatically, and who are allowed to sing in an opera house small enough to honor the human voice - and in Verdi's hometown, at that. This "Aida" focuses upon the relationships among the various characters of the story and not upon spectacle. The sets and costumes are stunningly beautiful in any case, but they serve to support the action and the development of the characters. I have never before been so profoundly moved by a performance of this opera in my 50 years of listening and watching.
It sould be noted that this production omits the ballet in the midst of the triumphal march - and in this case it matters not a bit. The earlier dance of the priestesses and the vesting of Radames is conceived as religous ritual that evokes a sense of awe, fearful awe.
Everything about this DVD makes it a worthwhile purchase, very much including the documentary of "The Making of Aida," in which we see Franco Zeffirelli working with the young singers scene by scene, encouraging them to live into their characters and honoring the phyisical support required by their voices. The conductor (Massimiliano Stefanelli) and the lead singers (Adina Aaron, Kate Alrich, Scott Piper) may not be known to the viewer before seeing this DVD, but once one has seen it one is on the watch for other recordings by any of them.
I did an immeidate comparison of this production on DVD with that of the MET on DVD. The young Scott Piper out-sings and out-acts Placido Domingo. Piper even follows the composer's instructions for a soft tenderness at the close of "celeste Aida," whereas Domingo indulges in the "traditioanl" extended vocal trumpet call. Domingo is a great singer and a fine actor, but young Scott Piper IS Ramades. I can say pretty much the same down the line about each of the singers in the two productions: Bergonzi's singers are at home in their characters, vocally and physically, whereas the MET stars are (beautifully) singing "opera" to grand "effect." The MET DVD does include all of the ballet music, and the production and performance are overall very fine - don't get me wrong. But I think I will return to the young singers in this venerable and small Italian opera house whenever I want to experience what my gut tells me is closer to Verdi's intentions.
Worth Owning July 26, 2007
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
If you're looking for elephants, camels and everything else that can be thrown into the grand parade scene of AIDA, this is not the DVD for you. However,if the singing is what you're interested in, this is definitely worth seeing. Scott Piper is a handsome actor/singer and portrays Radames shifting allegiances well. Gorgeous voice. Adina Aaron as Aida is magnificent--a singer of great dignity and prescence (beautiful too) who makes you believe every word she sings. The third side of this traingle, Kate Aldrich as the Pharoah's daughter, is a bit petulant and tends to play with her wig a lot. The effect is of a spoiled teenager not getting her way--but that may have been how she was directed.
Every part of the Zeffirelli-designed production is stunning. The sets Zeffirelli squeezes into the tiny Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, the costumes, head-dresses and wigs, the make-up (dig those lapis-lazuli faces on Pharoah's retainers!) are all worth watching closely, even studying. The big parade scene is cleverly "cheated" by having the crowds face away from the audience as if watching a parade go by which we can't see. This prevents the opera from sagging into mere spectacle.
At the time of filming, the singers were young newcomers chosen by Zeffirelli himself. It's great to see the assurance of a proven director/designer blend with the eagerness and confidence of these soon-to-be stars.
A bonus: subtitles are in multiple languages, including Italian, for those who want the actual lyrics and not a translation.
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