A
Triumphal Return---Zeffirelli’s Spectacle Opera Coming Soon
to NNTT.
In
Aida, director Franco Zeffirelli offers impeccable visualization in his
stage and costume design, right down to the actors’
accessories, through an interpretation based on historical
research. The final scene, with
its sublime love duet, is immensely moving. The staging of the splendid and dazzling Triumphal Scene in
the 1998 performance of the opera, which commemorated the opening of the New
National Theatre in Tokyo, kindled the newborn opera house. As Zeffirelli himself later
expressed, “This is the only production in my lifetime that has achieved such
spectacular effects as this.” The legendary staging of Aida has left its mark on Japanese operatic history. The forthcoming repeat production
will be led by the powerful maestro Daniel Oren. The title role will be sung by the formidable
soprano Norma Fantini and the rising singer Marina Fratarcangeli, and a cast
of other talented singers will also be assembled. The audience will certainly be able to enjoy the charm of
this opera to the fullest.
<Synopsis>
The setting is ancient Egypt. Aida, princess of Ethiopia who was
defeated in the war, is a captive and slave to the Egyptian princess Amneris,
who does not know that Aida is the daughter of the Ethiopian king. Aida and Radamès, captain of the
Egyptian guard, secretly love each other, but Amneris also loves
Radamès. One day, Radamès
returns from a victorious campaign bringing with him many slaves, including
Aida’s father Amonasro. The
Ethiopian king Amonasro sees his daughter again and convinces her to find out
from Radamès which route the Egyptian forces plan to take in the next war
with Ethiopia. At night, Aida,
in a rendezvous with Radamès on the bank of the Nile, tries to persuade him
to flee with her and extracts from him information about the operations of
the Egyptian forces. Stunned to
know of the enemy’s plot, Radamès surrenders himself and is placed under
arrest. Amneris offers to plead
for him if he marries her, but ultimately, he refuses to explain and is
sentenced to death. As the walls
of his burial chamber are sealed up, Radamès discovers that Aida has
concealed herself in the darkness.
The lovers die quietly but at the same time attain eternal love.
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