The A’s ” Aida, Amneris and Amonasro ” have it in Giuseppe Verdi’s 1871 opera, “Aida.” The R’s ” Rhadames and Ramfis ” aren’t bad, either.
As any student of the operatic ABCs (“Aida,” “La Boheme” and “Carmen”) knows, “Aida” is set in ancient Egypt, where the title character, a captive Ethiopian princess (American soprano Indra Thomas in her San Diego Opera debut), serves Amneris (Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Mariana Pentcheva), daughter of the King of Egypt (Brazilian bass-baritone Jose Gallisa). Both women love Rhadames (Uruguayan tenor Carlo Ventre), who leads the Egyptian army against the Ethiopians and returns victorious with slaves, among them Aida’s father, Amonasro (American baritone Mark Rucker).
As grand operas go, “Aida,” particularly in the current production, is rife with spectacle, peopled with seven gloriously clad principals that also include German baritone Reinhard Hagen as the imperious high priest, Ramfis; an offstage Priestess (India-born soprano Priti Gandhi); a Messenger (Kenneth Morris); hordes of supernumeraries and a huge orchestra with onstage trumpets; and a super-large chorus.
Despite its immensity, this “Aida” is intensely affecting on a human scale, due to the finely etched characters created by extraordinary singers. Thomas and Ventre in particular are able to scale down their orchestra/chorus-piercing voices to mere threads of tone as Aida and Rhadames, accused of treason, die together in an airless tomb at the conclusion of the three-hour opera, performed with one interval.
Spectacle aside, it’s fascinating to watch the underpinnings of Michael Yeargan’s gigantic set glide about while pyramids fly and seated gods arrive from on high. Chris Rynne’s lighting is marvelous, giving spectators a feel for ancient Thebes and Memphis. One experiences the colors of the Nile and the fertile earth in Peter J. Hall’s costumes. The King’s golden getup drops one’s jaw. Garnett Bruce stages the work with intelligence and numerous subtleties that cause one who’s seen the opera a dozen times to exclaim, inwardly, of course, “Aha!”
Ventre, who debuted here as Gabrielle in “Simone Boccanegra,” has a bright, reliable tenor of considerable size. His stamina is noteworthy and he kept getting better as the evening progressed. Thomas is a stunning find, capable of power, expert at ravishing one’s ears with high, floating pianissimos and melting one’s heart with her acting. Her duet with Rucker was affecting for the quality of the sounds they both produced and, furthermore, for their effectiveness in establishing the father-daughter bond. Rucker’s Amonasro, glorious in vocal quality and Verdian cantabile, is not just manipulative and authoritarian, he has human flesh on his bones.
As someone suggested, Verdi should have called his opera “Amneris.” The character”a true princess imbued with all that implies”gets the most dramatic bits, cannily discovering who Aida loves, scheming to win Rhadames, urging him to speak at his trial and recant his betrayal of Egypt and, ultimately, lying prone atop the tomb intoning, “pace t’implora” during Rhadames and Aida’s rapturous “O terra addio.” This low-pitched intoning lies in the meat of Pentcheva’s voice and she sings it beautifully. Possessed of a rapid midvoice vibrato, she may not be everyone’s favorite Amneris, but she does have the power, even though her voice becomes sharp-edged in the stratosphere, and she has a peculiar habit of bending her body towards the floor when singing fortissimo, as if looking for additional support.
The listener’s favorite aural scene was that in the Temple of Vulcan on the eve of Amneris’ wedding. As the High Priest, Hagen”an imposing physical and vocal presence in anyone’s opera ” urges Amneris to pray all night. Off stage, the high priestess invokes the god Ptah three times. There are three choral responses.
Add to this the magnificence of the Triumphal Scene with principals soaring over all combined forces, and you have a grand, grand opera. Under the baton of Valery Ryvkin, the orchestra is magnificent throughout the evening.
Remaining “Aida” performances take place at the Civic Theatre, 1100 Thurd Ave., at 8 p.m. Friday, April 18; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 20; and 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 23. For tickets and information, call (619) 533-7000 or visit www.sdopera.com.