In tribute to the recently deceased, endlessly listenable Carlo Bergonzi I request that you watch the Hardy Classics DVD of Aida at the Verona amphitheater in 1966. Not that Rhadames was his best role. It always seemed a bit too robust for him and yet he performed it for decades w/o any apparent damage to his glorious tones. For the true trumpet blast called for by that role or Manrico he substituted a rousing vibrato. It worked.
What makes this Aida particularly intriguing is seeing the way that Bergonzi and his stellar colleagues—Gencer, Cossotto, Colzani–must in full view of the audience traverse vast lengths just to get center stage. And then they have retrace their steps to get in close to their lover/rival/whomever and have some significant interaction take place. Fascinating to watch their attempt to dominate that space and stage. At times you feel that you’re seeing the actual architectural distance between stipulated locale. The Triumphal Scene goes on for miles.
As a bonus we have none other than the Kirov Ballet dancing in Amneris’s boudoir and in the Triumphal scene. They were in Verona to perform Sleeping Beauty and were slotted into Aida as well—Konstantin Sergeyev’s choreography. The Triumphal Scene is something indescribably gala. You can pick out some leading Kirov lights amid the crowd but it’s the firepower of ensemble cogency that vaults this into the history books.