Opera Scotland

Aïda 2007Chisinau National Opera, Moldova

Read more about the opera Aïda

The Moldovan company's spring and summer tour in 2007, as usual under the management of the Ellen Kent team, began in Croydon on 6 February, ending in Glasgow on 16 June. The two operas were not only among the most popular in the repertoire, but works the company generally performed well - Aïda and Tosca.

The tour visited 49 centres - four in Scotland, four in Ireland, two in Wales and 39 in England. The total number of performances (116) divided between Aïda  74 (eleven in Scotland) and Tosca  42 (four in Scotland). The planning and logistics of touring on this scale must be a nightmare, but at least, on this occasion, only two visits to Scotland were required, with unbroken runs of nine performances in March and a further six in June. On 20 March the company arrived at Glasgow for two performances of Tosca then one Tosca in Edinburgh before Aïda took over for two in Edinburgh, one in Dundee and two in Aberdeen. The final Aberdeen evening was of Tosca. At the tale end of the season, Glasgow saw six performances of Aïda at the smaller King's Theatre (the Toscas in March had been at the large Royal Concert Hall).

In the performance of 25 March, the outstanding contribution came from Natalia Margarit in the title role - an altogether excellent performance, culminating in beautifully floated high phrases in 'O patria mia'. Vladimir Dragos was also excellent, while Zarui Vardanean showed great promise as Amneris, though the part was slightly heavy for her. The rest were perhaps reliable rather than inspired, but that it still a positive quality with the role of Radamès. The production was very simple, with elegant sets and costumes very attractively lit - an achievement in itself, when every theatre must be different. The chorus was not large, but still projected well in the fine acoustic of the Caird Hall.

Cast details are from the programme brochure and performance insert sheet.