Search - Umberto Giordano, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Giuseppe Verdi :: Giuseppe Verdi: Aida

BETTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE AIDA

R. Olsavicky | Butler, Pa. USA | 11/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes a performance comes along where the total impact is better than the individual parts. This is one such performance. Why??? I believe in this recording it because of the Conductor, Alberto Paoletti. Every thing just flows perfectly along; just like the Nile. If you like Stella Roman, she is an excellent Aida. She has it all: dramatic high notes, floated piano high notes, fire, ice ... everything. This was a signature role; and even if she is at the end of her career she manages this role exceptionaly well. I love her vocal colour. Now for fans of Sylvia Sawyer's wild Azucena , we get to hear her equally bizarre Amneris. She paid to have both operas recorded and WOW! She is a hoot! Not as bad as Florence Foster Jenkins but, heading there. Her Italian is a DISASTER! At times it is rattled off with no accents or inflection and other times just awful. She also comes with shrill high notes and a very different Chest Voice. This is the Marx Brothers in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. If she wasn't trying so hard and sincere this would be a GRAND FARCE! As it is enjoy the "Comedy Tonight." She also has a BALLO "Ulrica" out there somewhere.

The men are fine and are not a liability as some can be. This is a studio recording and sounds better than your average Gala Release. Worth it for Stella Roman alone with some fine conducting and the Amneris of your Nightmares."