DVD Videos

“As ever with Wilson's work, we are in a world and style influenced by Noh theatre and silent films with a kind of distanced, glacial, intermittently effective lighting plot. The effect is hieratical in the extreme and initially has a strange fascination, its simplicity of setting and acting having for a while quite a hypnotic effect. But as the work progresses, one realises one is seeing Aida as some kind of staged oratorio, with the principals never touching, and emoting, if at all, only to themselves.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2006

“Monnaie orchestra was in tip-top rip-roaring form, brass firm focussed and cutting edge, woodwind, specially the flutes, longbreathed and luminous, strings reaching to top and bottom of their ranges with exemplary certainty and clarity.” Opera

“traditional costumes and stylized sets...[Talgi] has a pure, warm soprano, finely controlled in her legato singing, and Franco Vassallo sings magnificently, making his defying aria, Eri tu, a powerful climax, helped by Riccardo Chailly's inspired conducting.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ****

“Chailly's conducting left no wish unfulfilled, managing to conjure such a voluptuous sound from the orchestra that had not been heard from this pit in a while, sumptuous rumbling as well as transparency and lightness where necessary. A gripping iridescence between drama and grotesquerie was matched with great care for detailed phrasing, never losing sight of the whole. Orchestra as well as singers corresponded to their best.” The Opera Critic

“…José Cura… sings and acts here with an inwardness and intensity which make a profound impression. So does Krassimira Stoyanova as Desdemona, not in the first flush of youth, but heartfelt and direct; while Lado Ataneli's Jago is a brilliantly understated study in jovial malevolence. With strong conducting from Antoni Ros-Marbà, the whole cast collaborate to give us the truth of this desperately upsetting work, as no other DVD and few live performances I've seen of it ever have.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 ****

“Verdi’s wise, passionate score was served with precision, gusto and a keen ear for drama by maestro Antoni Ros-Marbà and the solid, malleable Liceu orchestra” Opera News

“This performance appeared on VHS back in March 1997. On a new, wide-screen television, it makes a far more arresting effect. The action seems to be happening in the room with you.
That's due not only to the format but also to director Luc Bondy's wish to portray the personal relationships, the characters' trials and tribulations in the most intimate manner. In contrast to most stagings of Verdi's epic, this one turns all but the outdoor scenes, mainly the Inquisition, into almost a domestic drama.
For better or worse, the principals seem very modern. José van Dam, a magnificent and moving Philippe II, does sometimes remind one of an out-of-sorts bank manager rather than a ruler of an empire, with his troubled wife, in the attractive person and voice of Mattila, as workaday Queen. Charisma is excluded by this interpretation.
The relationship of Carlos and Rodrigue, obviously a very close one, is a touchy-feely affair, one that Alagna, in a sincere, beautifully sung assumption, and a palpitating Thomas Hampson, execute with flair.
As ever, Meier isn't content with conventional acting: her Eboli is a scheming and seductive presence, consoling us with the intensity of her singing with a voice a shade light for her part.
Indeed, on re-appraising the musical side of the performance, which was recorded live at the Châtelet in Paris, it strikes you that all the voices are a degree lighter than we're used to in the piece, but that suits the French text, giving an ease and fluidity to the vocal line that is, in truth, its own justification.
Even more impressive on rehearing is Pappano's conducting, alive to every nuance of the long work yet aware of its overall structure. In the new medium the clarity and immediacy of the picture is arresting. The sound, though a shade soft in focus, is a great improvement on its 'ordinary' video counterpart. Owners of DVD players who want to add this unforgettable work to their collection need not hesitate – provided they can see it on a wide screen.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The score is tautly and warmly presented, as on cd, by Antonio Pappano and the principals are as fine a team as have ever been assembled for this opera on disc...Mattila gives the most masterly performance as the Queen...Alagna is in superb voice too, firm and heroic” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ****

“Although the cast is starry, it is Muti who ensures that this live La Scala, Milan, production of Ernani is so gripping...But it is Domingo's set and he sings magnificently, while the staging is traditional, thank goodness, though not unimaginative.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ****