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SeokJong Baek as Radamès and Angel Blue as Aida in Verdi's Aida (Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera)

The Metropolitan Opera opened the New Year with its first new staging of Verdi’s Aida in 37 years. Regulars had every right to be trepidatious: A few years ago we witnessed Gounod’s Faust drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and later, Lucia di Lammermoor moved from 17th century Scotland to a present-day rundown town in Pennsylvania, complete with heroin addicts.  

Martin Mayer’s shiny, new production, it turns out, is almost every bit as grand and conventional as was Sonja Frisell’s in 1988, but with one exception:  the Prelude. Through a scrim, we witness an archaeologist rappelling down into what must be an ancient tomb (sets by Christine Jones), with gigantic, dusty, nearly monochromatic walls decorated with hieroglyphics, carvings and statues. More archaeologists come and go throughout the opera, and eventually, during the Triumphal Scene, instead of a parade of prisoners, they enter carrying loot from the tomb(s) – statues of animals, urns, etc. This entire overlay neither hurt nor helped the production/performance, but it is a nice attempt to 'update' without intruding too much. 

Otherwise, the blocking was clear and ordinary, with few surprises or new insights. Aside from the fiery Amonasro/Aida duet in the third act, the characters rarely interacted.  Amneris is present above the entombed lovers at the opera’s end, and this rich character – arguably the opera’s only rich character – is filled with regret at having doomed the man she loves. Here, Mayer has her end her own life as the curtain falls, thereby alleviating her grieving and taking attention away from the just-about-dead lovers. An odd choice. 

The opening night gala had been compromised by the indisposition of Piotr Beczala as Radames. Announced as having a cold, he opted to sing anyway, and it turned out to be a terrible decision on both his part and the Met’s management. Quasi outrage ensued. I saw the third performance, by which time SeonkJong Baek had been flown in from the Arizona Opera to sing the role, having scored a success in Tosca earlier in the Met season – and he was remarkable. The voice is big and steely, capable of rising over Verdi’s big orchestration and grand choruses with power and beauty. He studied as a baritone for 15 years before reconsidering his fach and finding his top notes, and there isn't a break or a weakness anywhere in his voice.  

SeokJong Baek as Radamès in Verdi's Aida (Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera)

Angel Blue, a house favourite, made her Met debut as Aida. One feared her voice might be a bit small for the part, but the gleam of her upper register and the intelligent use of her lower octave, without resorting to a heavy chest voice, proved that she had the goods. The tone is lush and luscious; her high pianissimi simply beautiful. Her 'Ritorna vincitor' was ideal, expressing Aida’s inner turbulence as well as her devout supplication, and the long lines of 'O Patria mia' held no fears for her.  

I suspect that nobody will accuse our Amneris, Judit Kutasi, of having a beautiful voice, but her high-handed, swaggering portrayal was very effective. Swirling acres of chiffon around herself when not hurling herself to the floor, her campy behavior was backed up by a gigantic, piercing, solid upper register. Quinn Kelsey, a superb Verdi baritone, offered the most dramatically cogent performance of the evening as Amonasro, and he presented a lesson in legato singing. 

The choreography by Oleg Glushkov was as expected, but shone in an interlude in the Triumphal Scene with buff, shirtless men in blue skirts and leather helmets. The superb Met Orchestra and Chorus perform gloriously for Yannick Nézet-Séguin, whose lack of eccentricities are most welcome in a pageant such as this one. The whispered strings, the brilliant brass – placed in two of the Parterre Boxes – the lovely aural breeze in the Nile Act, added up to a feast for the ears.  

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