Verdi: Aida Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia & Antonio Pappano

• Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Aida, Preludio
• 1 Preludio 03:37
• Aida, Act 1
• 2 Sì: corre voce che l'Etiope ardisca (Ramfis, Radamès) 02:13
• 3 Se quel guerrier io fossi! (Radamès) 00:59
• 4 Celeste Aida (Radamès) 03:46
• 5 Quale insolita gioia nel tuo sguardo! (Amneris, Radamès) 03:12
• 6 Vieni, o diletta, appressati (Amneris, Aida, Radamès) 02:44
• 7 Alta cagion v'aduna (King, Messenger, Radamès, Ramfis, Priests, Ministers, Captains, Aida) 03:21
• 8 Su! del Nilo al sacro lido (King, Ramfis, Ministers, Captains, Aida, Radamès, Amneris, Priests, Messenger) 02:59
• 9 Ritorna vincitor! (Aida) 06:43
• 10 Possente, possente Fthà (Verdi: Aïda, Act 1: 'Possente, possente Fthà' (High Priestess, Ramfis, Priests, Priestesses) 03:21
• 11 Sacred dance of the Priestesses (Priestesses, Ramfis, Priests) 02:15
• 12 Mortal, diletto ai Numi (Ramfis, Priests) 01:06
• 13 Nume custode e vindice (Ramfis, Radamès, Priests, Priestesses) 04:13
• Aida, Act 2
• 14 Chi mai fra gl'inni e I plausi (Slaves, Amneris) 03:01
• 15 Dance of the Moorish slaves 01:28
• 16 Vieni: sul, crin ti piovano (Slaves, Amneris) 01:37
• 17 Fu la sorte dell'armi a' tuoi funesta (Amneris, Aida) 05:01
• 18 Pietà ti prenda del mio dolor (Aida, Amneris) 01:41
• 19 Su! del del Nilo a sacro lido (Chorus, Amneris, Aida) 02:44
• 20 Gloria all'Egitto, ad Iside (Chorus, Priests) 03:25
• 21 Triumphal march 01:35
• 22 Ballet 04:23
• 23 Vieni, o guerriero vindice (Chorus, Priests) 02:24
• 24 Salvator della patria (King, Radamès, Ramfis, Priests) 02:10
• 25 Che veggo! Egli? Mio padre! (Aida, Amneris, Radamès, Ramfis, King, Priests, Chorus, Amonasro) 01:57
• 26 Ma tu, Re, tu signore possente (Amonasro, Aida, Slaves, Prisoners, Ramfis, Priests, Amneris, King, Radamès) 03:49
• 27 O Re, pei sacri numi (Radamès, King, Amneris,Priests, Chorus, Ramfis) 02:16
• 28 Gloria all' Egitto, ad Iside (King,Slaves, Prisoners, Chorus, Ramfis, Priests, Aida, Radamès, Amneris, Amonasro) 03:04
• Aida, Act 3
• 29 O tu che sei d'Osiride (Priests, Priestesses) 02:42
• 30 Vieni d'Iside al tempio (Ramfis, Amneris, Priests, Priestesses) 02:17
• 31 Qui Radamès verrà! (Aida) 01:34
• 32 O patria mia (Aida) 05:17
• 33 Ciel! mio padre! (Aida, Amonasro) 01:11
• 34 Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate (Amonasro, Aida) 01:39
• 35 In armi ora si desta il popol nostro (Amonasro, Aida) 02:46
• 36 Padre! a costoro schiava non sono (Amonasro, Aida) 02:38
• 37 Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida (Radamès, Aida) 01:19
• 38 Nel fiero anelito di nuova guerra (Radamès, Aida) 01:46
• 39 Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti... Là, tra foreste vergini (Aida, Radames) 06:02
• 40 Ma, dimmi: per qual via (Aida, Radamès, Amonasro, Amneris, Ramfis) 03:25
• Aida, Act 4
• 41 L'abborrita rivale a me sfuggia (Amneris) 02:37
• 42 Già i sacerdoti adunansi (Amneris, Radamès) 02:47
• 43 Ah! tu dei vivere! (Amneris, Radamès) 04:28
• 44 Ohimè! morir mi sento! (Amneris) 02:13
• 45 Spirto del nume, sovra noi discendi! (Ramfis, Priests, Amneris) 01:53
• 46 Radamès, Radamès, Radamès (Ramfis, Priests, Amneris) 03:50
• 47 A lui vivo, la tomba! (Amneris, Ramfis, Priests) 03:12
• 48 La fatal pietra sovra me si chiuse (Radamès, Aida) 02:32
• 49 Presago il core della tua condanna (Aida, Radamès) 02:12
• 50 Vedi? di morte l'angelo (Aida, Priests, Priestesses, Radamès) 01:45
• 51 O terra, addio (Aida, Radamès, Priests, Priestesses, Amneris) 04:54
• Total Runtime 02:26:03

Info for Verdi: Aida

This magnificent recording of Aida, made in Rome, rises to all the musical and dramatic challenges presented by Verdi’s richly-coloured Egyptian epic. Antonio Pappano, once again proving his mastery of Italian opera, moves between sumptuous grandeur and touching intimacy. The responses of the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are both immediate and vibrant, while the singers – Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Ludovic Tézier and Erwin Schrott – do justice to every facet of their roles.

Maestro Antonio Pappano became music director of these Rome-based ensembles in 2005 – and has recorded Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with them – but this version of Verdi’s Egyptian-set masterpiece will inevitably represent a landmark. Aida, after all, has a reputation as one of the grandest works in the repertoire, and studio recordings of large-scale operas have become something of a rarity over the past 20 years. The New York Times has predicted that “this will surely rank as one of the most prestigious recording projects of the year.”

The recording was made in February 2015 in the Auditorium of Rome’s Parco della Musica – a superb 2800-seat concert hall, designed by Renzo Piano. The venue was able to accommodate all the spatial effects (such as off-stage chorus and woodwind/brass banda) that Verdi built into his score, and the producer, Stephen Johns, could evoke towering temples and echoing tombs without recourse to electronic trickery.

Antonio Pappano feels that, as conductor, his role is “to become the stage director creating an imaginary production, which is built with the forces and space that you have at your disposal.” He emphasises that, for all its grandeur, particularly in the spectacular Triumphal Scene that closes Act II, Aida is “an intimate piece ... but the intimacy is placed in large spaces.” When it comes to creating Verdi’s richly-coloured sound world, he believes that the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has “the ideal sound – the cantabilità [singing quality], the drama.”

Pappano has chosen singers who can bring both soaring power and lyrical subtlety to their roles: Anja Harteros as the captive Ethopian princess Aida, Jonas Kaufmann as the Egyptian general Radamès, Ekaterina Semenchuk as the Egyptian princess Amneris, Ludovic Tézier as Aida’s father, the Ethopian king, Amonasro, Erwin Schrott as the implacable high priest Ramfis and Marco Spotti as the King of Egypt.

Shortly after the recording was completed, Pappano conducted a concert performance of Aida with the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the same line-up of principal singers. The sold-out event duly attracted critics from all over the world.

“This would always have been an event, a major (in several senses) studio opera recording. But it's also a performance absolutely worthy of the attention, and a superb addition to the catalogue.” (Gramophone Magazine)

Anja Harteros, soprano (Aida)
Jonas Kaufmann, tenor (Radames)
Ekaterina Semenchuk, mezzosoprano (Amneris)
Erwin Schrott, bass baritone (Ramfis)
Ludovic Tezier, baritone (Amonasro)
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Antonio Pappano, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Verdi: Aida