This is one of the productions I saw on TV in the late 8-s when I was a teenager and it was amongst three operas I saw at around the same time that converted me into an opera fan for the rest of my life. I had no idea Aprille Millo wasn't African American until years later when I saw her as Amelia and couldn't believe it was her! I was only a naive teenager at the time I first saw this!! Obviously would never happen now - but what an incredible production and Domingo as Radames was simply sensational as well. One of those incredible memories - I watched it over and over on VHS!!
I just saw the dolora zajick aida at the met on january seventh. I dont have any opera friends to chat with so ill talk about it here. Dolora was amazing. She started out a little bit slow, and I was beginning to feel dissapointment, as id flown from vancouver canada to see her. I was starting to think "oh well, shes nearing her 70s now, what did I expect" or something along those lines. But around halfway through the trio in act one her voice just kind of switched on. It was amazing to hear. All of a sudden torrents of sound just started pouring out of her. Her upper register was brilliant and metallic, blowing through the house like a steel I beam, And her chest voice exploded from her like thunderclaps. Her voice round the passagio in the middle was a little awkward sounding but other than that hearing her in house she sounded exactly as she does in this video! Perhaps with even MORE steel and fire in her upper register. She sounded passionate and regal and powerful, exactly as amneris should, with an immaculate and fiery interpretation. The aida in the production was a bit of a dissapointment. It was supposed to be sondra radvanovsky who i was quite looking forward to. Hearing recordings of her aida there are certainly issues but theres also moments of lyrical genius. But she called the performance off due to her ailing mother. The soprano brought in to replace her was named kristen lewis. A black soprano with much beauty but a relatively small voice and one of the most unsteady tones ive ever heard. She was mostly in tune for the performance which was more than i expected after hearing youtube videos of her, but she was also wobbling and unsteady. She did manage a couple of touching moments though, character wise. One thing of note was that she actually went for the Eb at the end of the triumphal scene. It was like a hooting owl, and the only way I even knew she did was that she samg it AFTER the orchestra had finished their final chord. The radames on tge other hand was brilliant, a strong and powerful yet well controlled voice, even if a little robotic. I cant remember his name but he was certainly worthy of singing alongside dolora. One moment that made me scratch my head was during possente ptha, rather than a soprano they had a (very) falsettist singing the famous lines which robbed the moment of any etherial beauty. But it was all worth it to hear dolora, perhaps the worlds last remaining true dramatic mezzo, powering through the most spectacular music with grace and ease. I bought my ticket expecting it to be my last chance to hear her sing such a role, but having heard her I think she may even have more amnerises in her for the future, amazing for someone who has been singing such a difficult role for over 30 years now. And other than a slightly awkward middle section, her voice is just as, if not more spectacular than it is here. Oh and I wont say anything for certain but I may or may not have audio recorded the entire perforamance via a mobile phone deposited in a bag at my feet...
This production was done when she was very young and she was probably a bit afraid of all the: Dont ruin your voice with overuse of chest placement... so she doesnt push down there much... in her later years she unleashed the lower register heavily because as she often says: I have been ruining my voice for 30 years now :D If the falsetist was good the effect would be dreamy... he obviously wasnt the proper choice
Zajick has become bizarre in the last half of her career - she absolutely mangles all her words in order to create her sound, which is still impressive for her age. I don’t know why this happened as her diction, though never spectacular was ok 25 years ago.
This performance is amazing. Zajick a force, as ever! It's funny that you posted this when you did, as I JUST saw Millo in recital here in New York last week and it's incredible to think that she's where she is now - which is, sadly, very far from this - and Dolora just performed Amneris on stage at the Met a few weeks ago.
Zajick's upper register is a beast here, but there is sometimes so unsettling to me about her middle register, and Amneris is all about middle voice.... Great singing by both though.
For some reason Zajick lost power in the middle... I totally agree about Amneris being all about the middle... it’s supposed to hit you like a ton of bricks... Oralia and Giulietta do that very well
L' Aida del nostro Grande Maestro Verdi è una delle sue Opere più imponente e meravigliosa perché svolgendosi nell' antico Egitto necessita di favolosa scenografia e di particolari e fastosi costumi. Questo spezzone che hai caricato caro Lohengrin0 è meraviglioso e le due rivali e Protagoniste Aprile Millo e Dolora (??) interpretano questo duetto alla grande!! Nulla mi incanta quando hai davanti agli occhi e ti accarezza l'udito... la completezza della vera arte!! Tu come sempre... e sempre ti ripeto, caro Lohengrin0, hai.. ( questo vorrà dire poco per te) la mia incondizionata ammirazione!! Un ciao caloroso ancora per te... Elsa.
Not quiet the intense passion and fire of the Dominguez or Simionato - Callas duet but darn close to it.. although the moment she says Radames vive.. it’s not soooo intense so cruel.. I like it, given the fact that there is no video of the Mexican performance of 51...❤️
whenneve I see and/or hear this awesome duet or any other where Verdi - most than any other composser did this, eventhough there are some other good samples aside of his work - one just the the total awe of first level of the very high complexity of operatic art work and style best ever, as the dramatic-lyrical (near assoluta) soprano voice perfectly clashes in harmony and contrast against the dramatic alto/mezzo (also near assoluta but darker and lower) voice, set up as rivals in a very thrilling pivotal scene ever!! It´s hard to think if ever the opera actually has the proper title as "Aida" focused, as Amneris role is just too much to stand against and/or to think that she is actually the true protagonist here rather than a rival. I like the soprano vs mezzo/alto duets better than any other type of clash-contrast of voices anytime - although some both bass duet happen in another Verdi opera when King Phillip II clashes against the Great Inquisitor too, and the soprano vs barytone are great too wherever they exist too.
@@LohengrinO I think Callas was the only one Aida who was outstanding in her own way against any Amneris who by her time where rather good as well, latter on for a bit while only the Amneris singers were better, and nowadays NONE of them approaches barely of those performances, perhaps again the Amneris singers a bit more as it has always seems had happened while the Aidas are somewhat incidental as outstanding.
This clip comes from a truly magnificent 1989 performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with Domingo singing Radames. A DVD of the entire opera is available on Amazon.
I'd love it if you could show us beautiful art without blackface. Black legends played this role, and April Millo had many wonderful roles where she wasn't in blackface.
This was the LAST Aida heard at the Met...it needs to be documented. I don't care what in the hell she was wearing. It was a practice at the time...we have grown and moved on. Quite trying to cancel everything. Absolutely ridiculous.
I actually think it’s done quite well and blended well. Blackface is attached to a particular context. This is not “black face”. She’s a white woman portraying an Ethiopian princess.
@@cadecannon159respectfully, the fact that the singer is white does not matter. I firmly believe that you do not just sing opera, you perform it and if you perform it well, the audience will believe. As a member of the audience, I can honestly say that I have experienced this.
Makes opera what it always has been....racist! There are no shortage or wonderful Black opera singers out here! Surely, they could have found one!!! I am a Black man with great talent and potential who got shafted in school for this very reason and I resent such statements!
@@coreyanderson3675 Think about Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, Kathleen Battle and Grace Bumbry! They are/were all loved by the audience, and they are/were black!
@@esterbruno8604 Then why cant these singers be asked to perform the role. And also, lets not lie to ourselves that theres a plethora of Black and POC singers in opera world. Opera is a super gatekeeped field which is one of the reasons why its also becoming a dying craft.
@@luiscuesta0719 Actually these singers sang a lot of roles. Verrett sang both mezzo and soprano roles (both Amneris and Aida, look ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bMbKgKK6dbc.html), Bumbry too, but they have chosen Millo because: 1) She has a beautiful lyric soprano voice (for this role is necessary a lyric or spinto soprano) 2) She was available at that time for the production Only because productors don't always choose black people for black roles it doesn't mean that they are racist.
@@esterbruno8604 ok, but why is she in black face???? Its not like any of the people in this production looked like the demographics they are portraying why did they have. And the met still brown faces their aida’s to this day. Its sooo weird lol.
with Aida's Voice? Leontyne had retired by that time... but she was THE Aida of her time... in our days we don't even have a white Aida (absolutely no Aida at all right now)
Not that many black people sing opera, then, and now. Further, they'd have to possess the requisite instrument necessary to sing the role, and be heard over an orchestra, furthering limiting the talent pool. Much easier to pick the best from blind casting, though they could have done without that abhorrent makeup.
Blackface only is now common in opera for it is an ancient form of entertainment so yeah, don't ecpect Aida to be whitewashed 😂😂 Opera is an associate of music, looks don't matter, only the voice one carries does
@@jmiller05 I don't discount that. Regardless of intentions however, one can still offend. What's *important* is if a person/institution actually learns from such an experience and adjusts their conduct.
jmiller05 I understand that. But than again Butterfly is suppose to be a 15 year old Japanese girl and every time I saw it Butterly was a fat middle aged Italian woman.
