“Aida” by Peter Stein MAMT opened the 104th season

“Usually, the largest opera houses, the “imperial” ones, encroach on “Aida”, putting on the stage masses of the choir, mimamse, ballet, and sometimes real exotic animals in the famous finale of Act II. But in fact, “Aida” is an opera about love, fidelity, betrayal, passion…

It would seem that the first thought that should come to mind of a director who takes on the production of Aida is to try to do everything the way Verdi wrote. However, for some reason, no one does this. We used to think that “Aida” is a large-scale spectacle with spectacular scenery and costumes, marching extras, preferably even with elephants on stage. And all the time – forte, forte, forte! But if we open the score, we will see a completely different picture. More than half of the opera is piano and pianissimo. The conductor and I agreed that we would follow all the author’s instructions so that “Aida” from a magnificent show would again become what it was intended to be – an intimate psychological drama. Before us is a classic love triangle: two women love one man. Everything else – politics, war, religion, intrigues – is the backdrop against which the action unfolds, “- this is how the world-famous director Peter Stein describes his work on the production.

“Aida” by Peter Stein is one of the few performances that really turned my life around. With the opening of the curtain, when the magical music of Verdi begins, when you see the scenery, you understand – this is REAL! So “goosebumps” that a clear sensation is PERFECTION! Laconic geometric decorations, clarity of colors, at the same time – style and brightness. Pure, magical voices. The performer of the role of Aida – Elena Guseva – is amazing, she makes sounds that take the soul out of you. Parts, duets, multi-voiced parts – it’s so beautiful, and in the complex it makes a stunning impression that remains before your eyes for a long time. This is real art. And it is not for nothing that this performance is staged at MAMT, because it is such a stylish and perfect theater – it has everything in moderation, and everything is tasteful. And all this together harmonizes the space and gives a feeling of happiness and beauty that stays with you for a long time after the curtain has fallen, ”my colleague Svetlana Yuryeva was inspired by Aida at the opening of the MAMT season.

Stein’s love triangle on the MAMT stage without elephants, horses, camels, oil rigs and a thousand extras. With minimal artistic means, the production team managed to show the pyramids and temples, the underground and luxurious spaces of the Egyptian palace, landscapes with sunrise and sunset. And the total number of participants in the production was impressive: the scene with the dances of the servants in the chambers of Amneris, the mimams participated, the children’s choir of the theater, pupils of the Lavrovsky choreographic school, were involved. The local choir has been enlarged by the State Concert and Theater Chapel named after Vadim Sudakov.

Seven incredibly beautiful scenery has been prepared for the seven scenes of the opera. The visual concept is based on line, angle, square, trapezoid. And contrasting colors – black, white, gold and scarlet. Instead of the Palace in Memphis, there are black walls stretching into the sky and a luminous gap in the form of a trapezoid. The army and priests are in long robes, the royal people are in white taffeta, with turquoise hues.

Stein’s amazing interaction of all elements – scenography, costumes, symbolic objects and figurative constructions of people – form additional vectors of the production design. The scenery is made in a fashionable high-tech style with neon lighting and the overlay of various geometric shapes, but with historical signs that are unmistakably Egyptian. And each change of scenery is a new perfect construction, both on the stage and in the “process” of the performance.

The most psychologically powerful scene is in the final act, when the suffering Amneris tries to save Radames from the judgment of the priests. She rushes through the sterile white space of stairs and tunnels, slides down the walls. The impassive priests move slowly up the stairs in pairs, and Amneris tries to pass through their non-stop line. As if she resists a stormy current that cannot be reversed, as it is impossible to resist fate, fate and death.

The orchestra sounds delicately in the style of a director, presenting the score in a directorial way. The soloists tried to do without the stentorian fortissimos that are customary in Verdi’s arias. Elena Guseva is inimitable in the image of Aida. Voice, becoming, plasticity, sincerity and visibility – such is Mamto’s Aida. He held the bar and Radames – Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov: militant and gentle at the same time. Amneris – Larisa Andreeva incomparably played the final scene-catastrophe. Amonasro – Andrey Baturkin talentedly performed the psychotype of a neurotic suffering from persecution mania. The majestic Pharaoh, fair and merciful is the merit of Roman Ulybin.

The production of Aida at the opening of the MAMT season is majestically refined and incredibly aristocratic at the same time. In general – a classic of the genre, for centuries, and for sure – for a textbook on musical theater, and into our souls.

Vladimir Sabadash.

Photo by Svetlana Yurieva