Maestro Raffa’s hi-tech Aida fulfils Verdi’s populist vision.

What would Giuseppe Verdi, who died just over 98 years ago on January 27 1901, have made of the sights and sounds that are Aida – The Operama Spectacular?I believe he would have delighted in this audaciously hi-tech staging. It removes his great work from the starched realms of the opera house and makes it accessible to the broadest of audiences. Verdi, ever proud of his humble origins – he declined King Victor Emmanuel’s offer of nobility by declaring “I am a peasant” – wished above all for his work to have mass, not elitist, appeal.In the hands of Maestro Giuseppe Raffa, Aida is just that: a glory to watch, a marvel to remember that is staged around the world in sports stadiums, those most populist of contemporary venues. Raffa, whose personal epigram is that he “conducts and creates operatic spectacles for the people”, has fulfilled Verdi’s wish.It is precisely because the Operama Aida has such popular appeal that it is deeply reverential to the composer’s intentions. Purists may disagree, quibble, carp and vituperate, but Raffa has ensured the viability not only of Aida but of opera as an entertainment form for the next millennium. Indeed it is possible that proportionally more people have seen Aida in the last decade, via Operama, than in all the years from its premiere on December 24 1871.The Maestro is of that assured breed of late 20th century creators who tame and harness technology to draw the carriage of art. Among the results are a quality and clarity of acoustic you’d find in an opera house and a succession of awesome, ever-changing projections that conjure up the monumental ancient Egyptian setting of Aida while very forcibly reminding you of the inertness of even the most imaginative stage sets. This is opera for the music video generation.

But it is also opera for the aficionados, who cannot fail to be impressed by the aesthetic created by Operama visual director. The use of Egyptian iconography, lapis lazuli and hieroglyphics achieves a sublime backdrop to the great human tragedy unfolding on the massive, pyramidal stage.I’ve seen this Aida four times – in final dress rehearsal and performance at both the Parken stadium in Copenhagen and Minolta Loftus in Pretoria. It seems to become more lyrical and moving each time, even as – or because – the technical aspects are subtly refined.So much so that the Loftus dress rehearsal, despite its occasional breaks and directional hints and admonishments from the Maestro, eclipsed the Copenhagen performance. Perhaps that had something to do with the African moon, approaching fullness, pouring its gentle silver light on the stadium. Aida, after all, is an opera set in the soil of Africa, with slavery, liberation, treason, death and love as its currency.Given the history of South Africa, those deep subjects resonate for us empathetically and poignantly in this Operama spectacular, a great homecoming for Aida.

By Darryl Accone