[Met Tour] CID:123670



Aida
Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York, Mon, April 11, 1938




Aida (424)
Giuseppe Verdi | Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida
Dusolina Giannini

Radam?s
Giovanni Martinelli

Amneris
Bruna Castagna

Amonasro
Richard Bonelli

Ramfis
Ezio Pinza

King
Norman Cordon

Messenger
Giordano Paltrinieri

Priestess
Thelma Votipka

Dance
Elise Reiman [Last performance]

Dance
William Dollar [Last performance]


Conductor
Ettore Panizza







Review 1:

Review of Stewart B. Sabin in the Rochester Democrat

Eastman Theater At Last Gets 'Met' "Aida"

There have been plenty of performances of Verdi's "Aida" in Rochester through the years but none in the Eastman Theater by the Metropolitan Opera Company until last night. There has always been difficulty over accommodating the Metropolitan Opera's stage sets to the Eastman stage. This was overcome last night and a distinguished cast gave the performance.

Having waited long to bring its "Aida" here, it was quite right that the performance should make it welcome and it did. It was one of the most spirited of Metropolitan Opera performances in the Eastman Theater and one of the most evenly balanced singing casts. And the capacity audience in its spontaneous and continuous applause, vouched for the success and by its cordiality contributed to the success of the evening. Grand opera is after all only really worthwhile when it is very well performed, given some panoply, and then is greeted with audience response.

First, possibly, comes in general interest the news about Martinelli. It was the Martinelli we have heard in Rodolfo's narrative who sang the "Celeste Aida" last night, and continued on through the onerous role. And he had brilliant singing to match to belong to last night's peerage.

Giannini was - well frankly she was a surprise to one listener who has heard her sing quite beautifully but without knowledge of her dramatic intensity, her amplitude of range and power. From Europe came reports of her success in opera and last night she added one in this town. And with her success was closely coordinated that of Castagna. This singer has a voice of grand opera power and scintillant resonance and of quality that does not suffer from magnitude.

And the men were of capacity to match two women. Ezio Pinza sings superbly; as mere vocality, his voice is a pleasure to hear. Bonelli has interested Rochester not a little since his rise to Metropolitan Opera prominence. Last night his Amonasro was sung with dramatic effect and to get this he honestly sang. Cordon was a dignified and impressive King. And because she was not seen Votipka should not be segregated from the good singing of last night. Her priestess music was excellently sung.

The performance had the benefit of good conducting. Panizza moved things along and kept suggestion of alert work by his chorus. The dancing was no more stop gap; the audience liked it and showed this. The stage, considering what the Metropolitan had to sacrifice in order to put its sets on it, presented something adequately illusory, and in the Nile scene particularly.

There were hearty recalls at each interval and they were earned.



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