[Met Performance] CID:127070
Aida {435} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/2/1939.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
December 2, 1939
AIDA {435}
Giuseppe Verdi--Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida....................Zinka Milanov
Radamès.................Arthur Carron
Amneris.................Bruna Castagna
Amonasro................Richard Bonelli
Ramfis..................Norman Cordon
King....................John Gurney
Messenger...............Lodovico Oliviero
Priestess...............Thelma Votipka
Dance...................Ruthanna Boris
Dance...................Grant Mouradoff
Conductor...............Ettore Panizza
Director................Désiré Defrère
Set designer............Angelo Parravicini
Costume designer........Ethel Fox
Choreographer...........Boris Romanoff
[Angelo Parravicini was not credited as set designer, though the scenery was his, repainted by Joseph Novak.]
Aida received seven performances this season.
Review of Jerome D. Bohm in the Herald Tribune
Season's Debut Made by "Aida" At Metropolitan
Bonelli and Bruna Castagna Are Heard in Principal Roles in Opera by Verdi
As has been so often the case in presentations of this opera in recent seasons, the most distinctive singing was vouchsafed by Miss Castagna, who brought to her delineation of the Egyptian Princess a plausible histrionism and her gorgeous contralto voice, which was projected with its customary effortlessness and evenness throughout the evening. Mr. Bonelli, with his voice, and his convincing characterization of the Ethiopian King, was the other singer in the cast whose work tarried on consistently high planes.
The Aida of Mme. Milanov is an exceedingly spotty impersonation. Occasional passages, such as the "Numi, pieta" were delivered with vibrant tones and some semblance of a vocal line, but for the most part the soprano's powerful voice was given forth in a spread manner, bringing with it hard, penetrating tones instead of the true brilliancy which would be hers could she learn to master the technical aspects of her art. As an actress she belongs decidedly to the semaphore school.
Nor did Mr. Carron make the best use of his admirable natural resources. Almost continual forcing vitiated the effectiveness of much of his singing and from the dramatic angle, his conception vies with Mme. Milanov's in ineptness. Messrs. Cordon and Gurney sang acceptably and Miss Votipka's fresh voice sounded well as it floated from the wings in the Priestess's music. Mr. Panizza conducted authoritatively and with considerable vitality; the chorus was heard to advantage in the Triumphal Scene and here too the ballet contributed its bit to the exhilaration of the act's close. A huge, demonstrative audience attended.