Aida

Published Friday 9 November 2007 at 11:10 by George Hall

The name Zandra Rhodes on the designs brought ENO’s new Aida a lot of attention even before the first night.

The results are certainly colourful, their super-enriched turquoise, orange and gold flooding the stage with brilliance. Much of this looks sumptuous and is apt to the ancient Egyptian setting. In addition, Rhodes and director Jo Davies have managed to find intimate spaces amid the grandeur for the heart of the piece.

Where the production is least successful is in the famous triumph scene, whose dramatic kernel has gone missing in an all-out search for showbiz. The stifling authoritarianism of Egyptian society and the overweening power of the priests get lost amid the decorative dancing and visual frills.

Much of the rest is sensibly traditional without riveting the attention. None of the central performances rises above dramatic routine. Best is Brindley Sherratt’s Ramfis, authoritatively sung and making sure we know who really runs Egypt. Gwynne Howell’s Pharaoh is vocally soft-grained and dramatically an old softie. John Hudson has a great night vocally as Radames, but as an actor he’s no more than decent. Much the same can be said of Claire Rutter in the title role. Jane Dutton’s Amneris is dramatically cardboard and vocally more limited than her tenor and soprano colleagues.

But ENO’s music director, Edward Gardner, the orchestra and chorus offer thrilling music-making. All in all this is a creditable show, though scarcely the searching experience Verdi’s masterpiece deserves.