Aida

This magnificent recording of Aida, made in Rome, rises to all the musical and dramatic challenges presented by Verdi’s richly-coloured Egyptian epic. Antonio Pappano, once again proving his mastery of Italian opera, moves between sumptuous grandeur and touching intimacy. The responses of the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are both immediate and vibrant, while the singers – Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Ludovic Tézier and Erwin Schrott – do justice to every facet of their roles.

In Abbado’s exalted account, the splendour and pageantry of Ancient Egypt are well-captured in the first two acts, to be succeeded by concern for the tormented fates of the lovers Aida and Radamès in Acts 3 and 4. Domingo is "near ideal" as the hero Radamès, while Katia Ricciarelli gives "a very involved, subtly defined account of her music".

(Gramophone)