Report MIKE DALY

BESIDE a small swimming pool adorned with a miniature sphinx on each corner, the extras gathered, armed with camera, microphones and notebooks. Nearby Omar the camel munched discreetly on a bucket of carrots.
The promotional overture to Operama “Aida” was staged in the garden of pop music personality Ian “Molly” Meldrum, whose Richmond home is adorned with ancient Egyptian paraphernalia.
A poolside media conference confirmed what we had known for several days, that the epic, $ 7 million production of Verdi’s grand opera, already seen by 71,000 Sydneysiders, performed at Princess Park, Carlton.
An imposing cast walked on to announce the open air spectacular. They included Sir Rupert Hamer, chairman of the Victoria State Opera Company, the Lord Mayor, Councillor McCaughey, the Egyptian consul, Mrs Moushira Khattab, VSO general manager Mr Ken Mackenzie-Forbes, executive producer Mr Pat Condon, and conductor Maestro Giuseppe Raffa.
Maestro Raffa is the artistic director of Canadian based Operama International Opera Festival which originally staged this production at Giza against a backdrop of the Great Sphinx and pyramids and then in Montreal.
Aida is being produced here in collaboration with the VSO and Kevin Jacobsen Promotions. After it leaves our shores it will probably go to Seattle, and keep travelling for a couple of years. Maestro hopes to take it to Rome eventually.
In Melbourne, Bruno Sebastian (Radames) and Rusa Baldani (Amneris) repeat their Sydney performances but the rest of the cast is new. Bulgarian soprano Ghena Dimitrova replaced Katia Ricciarelli in the title role of the doomed slave, with Piero Cappucilli (Amonasro), Noel Mangin (Ramfis), Greg Ryerson (King of Egypt) and Merlyn Quaife (priestess).
“But” Maestro Raffa reminded us, “the opera is the real star”. Exactly. It involved around 1400 performers and production staff. There is a small cast of eight, a VSO chorus of 120, 765 extras and 45 dancers, accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. And there are animals: elephants, horses, camels, doves and one lion, tiger, leopard and python.
There is a 13 metre high sphinx, three pyramids, from 20 metres to 14 metres high, sand dunes, 1500 costumes and 5000 props, requiring a massive stage 80 metres long by 50 metres deep.
“Aida” made March a triumphal month for Melbourne, according to Councillor McCaughey, coinciding with the Moomba fortnight. There are plans to involve the production and performers in city promotions and exhibitions, and the massive model of the sphinx will be displayed prominently here over the summer months.
As in Sydney, the cast of extras included celebrities and sportspeople. Ian Meldrum is auditioning, and there are plenty of Carlton and Hawthorn footballers keen to walk on. Carna slaves!