Muti conducts historic ’Aida’ in Verona

Almost one year ago, in June 2020, the Arena di Verona — an iconic venue that can host more than 13,000 visitors in its dramatic outdoor setting — made a bold decision as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily and cultural life around the globe. The decision was to present Verdi’s landmark opera Aida in concert form with the world’s foremost Verdi interpreter Riccardo Muti on the podium, officially to honor the 150th anniversary of the opera’s 1871 premiere in Cairo, Egypt, as well as mark the 120^th anniversary of the death of composer Giuseppe Verdi. Aida also happens to be the opera that opened the Arena di Verona, which has presented more than 700 opera productions during its annual summer seasons since 1913.

In 2020, Federico Sboarina, president of the Arena di Verona Foundation and mayor of Verona said, “Muti and the Arena is a combination of two internationally famous names in the world’s largest open-air theater.” Muti, who worked closely with the Arena di Verona over several years to explore the possibility of these special tribute performances, remained dedicated to their realization amidst continually evolving conditions. On June 19, despite the lingering effects and restrictions of the pandemic that continue to impact Italy in 2021, Muti led the first of two performances of Verdi’s Aida to open the 98th season of the Arena di Verona for a reduced arena audience at approximately half-capacity or 6,000 people, some holding stadium banners to welcome the distinguished maestro. On this occasion, more than 40 years since Muti’s only other appearance with Opera di Verona on Aug. 7, 1980, in a special performance of Verdi’s Requiem, dedicated to the victims of a terrorist bombing in Bologna, superintendent of the Arena di Verona Foundation and artistic director Cecilia Gasdia noted “He (Muti) is as he was when I met him and sang with him 40 years ago…he has incredible strength. I’ve seen him work these days for eight and nine hours a day. He gave everyone input, enthusiasm and instruction.”

Muti joined the Orchestra and Chorus (prepared by Vito Lombardi) of the Arena di Verona, with the musicians socially distanced according to current guidelines and seated in front of a vibrant red digital backdrop. The roster of distinguished soloists included soprano Eleonora Buratto making her role debut as Aida. Buratto, who is known to Chicago audiences from her performances as Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff with Muti and the CSO and more recent performances as Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen in 2017 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, was joined by mezzo-soprano Anna Maria Chiuri as Amneris, stepping in for Anita Rachvelishvili who was indisposed, tenor Azer Zada as Radames, bass Michele Pertusi as the King, tenor Riccardo Rados in the role of the messenger and soprano Benedetta Torre as the High Priestess, as well as bass Riccardo Zanellato as Ramfis and bass Ambrogio Maestri as Amonasro — two singers who have also sung in Verdi operas in concert with Muti and the CSO in Chicago.  Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, known to Chicago audiences for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Amneris in the CSO’s 2019 performances of Verdi’s Aida led by Muti, re-joined the cast of the opera for the second and final performance at the Arena di Verona on June 22.

The June 2019 Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances of Aida marked the fourth Verdi opera presented by the CSO and led by Muti. Of Verdi and Aida, Muti has said, “He speaks about our defects, our love, our jealousy — all the human aspects. I have repeated many times the words spoken by Gabriele d’Annunzio, the great Italian poet, when Verdi died: ‘Diede una voce alle speranze e ai lutti. Pianse ed amò per tutti.’ (‘He gave a voice to all our hopes and sorrows. He cried and he loved for all of us.’) This is Verdi.”

Fulvio Venturi, writing for the regional newspaper Toscana, praised the opening performance saying “Riccardo Muti gives life to this concert version of the opera” calling it “an intimate and meditative Aida, where the sound is often rarefied by favoring harmony over melody, or by highlighting the design of a score that is already very rich, but above all refined.”

Muti, the CSO’s Zell Music Director, who has championed Verdi’s Aida in performances throughout his career, reflected on the opera’s timeless appeal and message for today’s audiences, especially after the health crisis and social unrest present throughout the world over the past year. Speaking to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera about the choice of Aida for these performances, Muti said it is “Not only because it is one of the most popular works, but because today the relationship between Aida and Amneris is at the center/heart of everything that follows: the relationship between different civilizations, the clash of two populations, the Egyptian and the Ethiopian, the difficulties of integration, the desire for domination and enslavement, the clash between different religions… These are eternal problems that we deal with every day, the work brings them back to their dramatic relevance.”