Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10563 in Music
• Released on: 2001-09-03
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .77 pounds
• Running time: 146 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Behind the pyramids and the elephants, the long lines of prisoners of war and of slaves carrying booty, the choral shouts of "Glory to Egypt" and the splendid brass sounding the Triumphal March, Aida is the story of a love triangle: Aida, an Ethiopian princess who has become a slave in Egypt; Amneris, an Egyptian princess and Radamès, the Egyptian general they both love (Aida secretly). There are ironies and conflicts: How can she love a man who is the enemy of her country but who says he has fought and conquered for the sake of her love? It is suitable only for the biggest opera houses and therefore demands voices capable of great power as well as emotional expressiveness. Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo and Fiorenza Cossotto provide such voices and Ricardo Muti conducts with a sense of both drama and dynastic glory. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews

Heavenly Aida
If you love Verdi and great Verdi singing then this is simply not to be missed - the casting is unbelievably strong. But for this listener the one overwhelming reason to buy this set is Montserrat Caballe. I've lot count of the number of times I've played the Nile scene - it seemed miraculous the first time and seems so still. There are some things in life that one simply has to be grateful for and this is one of them.

The Recording To Have!
There are a huge amount of recordings of this opera, usually with all star casts. The competition, therefore, is fierce but this recording stands just above rival versions. Caballe sings the title role with power and expression as well as with great beauty. The Nile scene has never been sung so movingly. Domingo is in fine heroic voice as Radames and gives a much better account than he does on other labels..... The rest of the cast are first rate too, there are no weak links. The conducting is superb, if a little on the fast side, and the re- mastering brings out all the splendour of the score. Listen to the brass in the grand march- magnificent! There are other good interpretations but they do not have the sound quality to match. If you are on a budget then the next best recording is the Solti version with Price and Vickers on Double Decca. If not, don't be put off by the price and go for a cheaper version. Save up and buy this one!

HYPERBOLICAL AND GRANDIOSE
That was how Shaw characterised Verdi, bracketing him with Victor Hugo. Shaw also sensed a falling-off in spontaneity in Aida,its place being taken by increasing sophistication. I doubt if he would have had such reservations if he had heard this tremendous performance, one of the most thrilling you will ever hear. To get it going, Domingo's Celeste Aida is, well, celestial, and he is in superb voice throughout. Caballe sings like an angel from paradise. I remember her interviewed on TV by Bernard Levin years ago, and she almost winced as she said 'For Verdi you need so much VOICE'. There is no doubt about it, Verdi's demands on the human voice are inhuman, and I was lost in admiration at the entire cast and their majestic response to the whole wonderful but monstrous challenge set to them. At least one thing is simple in Aida and that is the plot-line, which makes a nice change compared with, say, Trovatore, and the characters, strongly drawn though they are both by Ghislanzoni and the composer, are not complex like Rigoletto or Iago.
I suspect that singers who can surmount the musical challenge as triumphantly as these do just find that they are acting superbly as well. The conducting helps just a little of course. Verdi's orchestral conception has now advanced beyond the 'big guitar' stage and the sumptuous sound Muti obtains and the strong forward thrust of his tempi creats an enthralling sense of grandeur. I had to listen to this Aida without interruption, just carried along by the sheer power of it. Loss of spontaneity? -- not a bit of it. The Requiem was still to come, and nobody has ever found any loss of spontaneity in that. For all the heartbreaking tenderness and pathos the final impression left is of an overpowering drama.