Aida da camera

In an interview for the programme book of La Fenice’s revival of Aida, conductor Riccardo Frizza emphasised the intimacy of Verdi’s opera, in contrast to the bombast associated with performances at the Arena di Verona or New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Italian theatres are small, he argued – an observation certainly true of La Fenice and the Cairo opera house, where Aida was given its world premiere (if perhaps less so of La Scala, where it had its Italian premiere). Frizza went on to describe the opera as a radical departure from Verdi’s earlier aesthetics, comparing the Egyptian music even to compositions from the late twentieth century.

That was how his interpretation sounded. In the Act Two triumphal scene, Frizza wasn’t afraid of making the orchestra roar, and the effect was thrilling in this small space. But we were also reminded…