[Met Performance] CID:198130



Aida
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, May 1, 1964




Aida (700)
Giuseppe Verdi | Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida
Birgit Nilsson

Radam?s
Franco Corelli

Amneris
Irene Dalis

Amonasro
Cornell MacNeil

Ramfis
Ezio Flagello

King
Justino D?az

Messenger
Robert Nagy

Priestess
Mary Ellen Pracht

Dance
Katharyn Horne

Dance
Edith Jerell

Dance
Naomi Marritt

Dance
Jess Oliver

Dance
Howard Sayette

Dance
Khemfoia Tol Padu


Conductor
Silvio Varviso







Review 1:

Review of John Ardoin in Musical America
On May 1, during the special World?s Fair season, Silvio Varviso conducted his first ?Aida? at the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Varviso had been announced for ?Aida? several times during the regular season just completed, but illness had prevented his conducting the work until now. It was a broadly paced ?Aida,? but one that was comfortable for the singers. Varviso?s restraint was the most plausible in the Nile Scene. Elsewhere, especially in the Triumphal Scene, he was unable to keep his voices together smoothly, and there was many a ragged moment between pit and stage. The tremendous control needed to combine slow tempos with excitement and movement is not yet Varviso?s. His approach was that of an accompanist whose concern for the singers allowed them to lead him. This will work fine with Donizetti, but ?Aida? is a totally different matter.

Even the strongest opponent of Birgit Nilsson in Italian repertory would have succumbed to the majesty and splendor of her Aida on this occasion. Her phrasing was expansive and beautifully conceived, with none of the choppy business that has marred her previous Aidas. Her voice was radiant, and she kept it in closer check than before. It was all quite memorable. Equally thrilling was the noble Radames of Franco Corelli which has also improved by leaps and bounds. Cornell MacNeil substituted for an indisposed George London as Amonasro, and Irene Dalis was Amneris.


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