[Met Tour] CID:42200



Aida
Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tue, December 1, 1908




Aida (128)
Giuseppe Verdi | Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida
Emmy Destinn

Radamès
Enrico Caruso

Amneris
Louise Homer

Amonasro
Pasquale Amato

Ramfis
Adamo Didur

King
Giulio Rossi

Messenger
Angelo Badà

Priestess
Lenora Sparkes

Dance
Gina Torriani


Conductor
Arturo Toscanini







Review 1:

Review in the Philadelphia Press

'AIDA' GIVEN IN FINE STYLE

Spectacular Production of Verdi's Great Opera at the Academy

EMMY DESTINN MAKES HER DEBUT

The New Soprano a Dramatic "Aida" - Mme. Homer the Star of the Performance.

It is significant of the commanding and deserved position that Verdi's works have taken in music that two of his most characteristic contributions to the operatic art-form were acclaimed last night by delighted audiences at the Academy of Music and the Philadelphia Opera House.

"Rigoletto," though written in his early days in the fifties and in the style of the period, has so unmistakably the stamp of genius that one can hear in it the germs of the musical ideas which blossomed twenty years later to such glorious perfection in "Aida," which work, from all points of view both in the appeal to the eye and to the ear, is unquestionably one of the most perfect examples of what opera should be.

There have been superb performances of "Aida" at the Academy, superb in the matter of the great singers who appeared in the cast and magnificent in the scenic appeal, and there have been also great occasion which centered about the debut of famous singers such as Eames, Gadski and Melba in the title role. But last evening rather surpassed all previous efforts in the general gorgeousness, if not in the high level of the vocal interpretation. For it must be said that some of the principals were not quite up to the standard of recent Metropolitan casts.

This was the case with Didur as "Ramfis," and it was partly true of Amato's "Amonasro," although as he warmed up to his work he proved be an artist of fine caliber, with a voice of much richness and touch of beauty. Moreover, while the debut of Emmy Destinn was expected to give distinction to the evening, her singing was not entirely satisfactory, seeming shrill and punctuated at times, so there was not in her case any special predominance. The consequence was the unquestioned beauty of the performance as a whole. Its most thrilling effects were due to the presence of Toscanini in the conductor's chair and to the evidence shown repeatedly that the production had been thought out most carefully and that no detail either as to scenery or to chorus or orchestra or the solo interpretations had been overlooked.

There was a unity about the interpretation that held an absorbed interest the evening through and swept everything before it at the great climaxes. The performance en masse was a splendid one in the meaning of the word. It shone.

This brilliancy was due in part to the new Metropolitan stage settings, which for sumptuousness and real beauty as stage effects have never been surpassed. The Nile, a flowing river, lit by the moon, the temple scene heavy with incense, huge columns festooned with flowers, and architectural details of a massy character, built up a series of great stage pictures against which the new costumes of chorus, ballet and principals glittered resplendently. But after all, be the "Aida" spectacle what it may, it is the singing that counts, and aside from Caruso, whose "Radames" was worked out along familiar lines, the striking figure of the evening was Madame Homer's "Amneris." Here is a great artist whose singing year by year takes on new beauty and whose interpretations are infused with deeper meaning as experience in the roles increases.

As for the new soprano if the first two acts disappointed, though even then there were hints of beautiful tones and lovely phrasing, in the third act, the reason for the singer's great fame was made manifest. Madame Destinn's voice is brilliant in its upper register and she colors her tone emotionally to suggest the poignant passions and emotions, giving a strong dramatic rendering to the role. She was at her best in the last two acts, singing with the fine effect in the duets and making every situation tell.

The audience filled the house and there were curtain calls and general appreciation of the beauty of the scenes and the big moments as well as the work of the soloists. But above all it was recognition of Toscanini as a master hand.



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