Concert Review: ‘Verdi’s ‘Aida’ Conducted by [Johnathon] Heyward’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Angel Blue (Aida). Photo by Dario Acosta.

The final concert of the 2024-2025 season brought audiences a complete concert version of Verdi’s “Aida” performed in Italian with English supertitles and featuring an all-star cast: Angel Blue (Aida), Jamie Barton (Amneris), Limmie Pulliam (Radames), Reginald Smith, Jr. (Amonastro), Mark Doss (Ramfis), Matthew Anchel (The King), Jonathan Rhodes (Messenger), Amber Moore (High Priestess),  and The Washington Chorus under the direction of Eugene Rogers.

…the audience was simply riveted by powerful vocals, emotional acting, and the stunning musicianship of the singers, chorus, and orchestra.

With music by Giuseppe Verdi and an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, “Aida” is a tragic opera in four acts. It was commissioned by and first performed in Cairo’s Khedivial Opera House on Christmas Eve, 1871. It has since become a staple in the operatic repertoire with continuous world-wide productions. There have been over 1,100 performances alone at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York since it premiered there in 1886. The first complete concert version was produced in 1949 in New York, telecast on NBC in two segments due its length, and later released on video by RCA Victor. The audio version of this broadcast was released on LP in 1954 and later on CD, also by RCA.

“My Darlin’ Aida,” a 1952 Broadway musical with new lyrics and book by Charles Friedman (using Verdi’s music) was set in Tennessee during the Civil War. A film starring Sophia Loren (lip-synching to soprano Renata Tebaldi’s voice) was made in 1953. The 1998 musical “Aida” used the opera’s story but with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice. A 2022 production by the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden set the opera in a Soviet-style totalitarian state.

The setting is sometime during the period of the Old Kingdom in Egypt (2700-2200 BC), also known as the Age of the Pyramids. Egypt is at war with Ethiopia. Aida, an Ethiopian princess, has been captured and enslaved. She has fallen in love with Radames, an Egyptian military officer, who is torn between his love for her and his loyalty to the Egyptian king. Amneris, the king’s daughter, is also in love with Radames and plots revenge against her rival.

Mark Hanson, president and CEO of the BSO, introduced the program by thanking the program’s sponsors, the BSO’s Opera Giving Circle, and announcing that this evening would be first in a four-part Verdi Opera Initiative conducted by Johnathon Heyward at the close of each season. He also told the audience that tenor, Limmie Pulliam, was not feeling well but had agreed to perform anyway. The first act began with an orchestral prelude Verdi insisted being used instead of the overture he had written and then subsequently condemned for its “pretentious silliness.” From this point on, the audience was simply riveted by powerful vocals, emotional acting, and the stunning musicianship of the singers, chorus, and orchestra. Maestro Heyward’s eyes and hands were everywhere, paying attention to soloists downstage, the chorus upstage (and huddled backstage through open doors for the quieter ensemble singing), and the trumpet soloists on the stage right and left balconies playing the very familiar fanfare of the “Grand March.” Each act features solo instrumental playing as introduction or background to various scenes.

Even though a concert version of an opera concentrates on the music and singing, it is important to have someone to help the singers with expressing various emotions and movement. Stage director Marcus Shield added many interesting touches to further our understanding of the players’ feelings, especially in scenes where Verdi has written passages of dance or ballet music.

His direction of facial and hand movements in sudden flare-ups of sadness, joy, anger, hope, and despair added to our appreciation and understanding of Verdi’s vision. Kudos also go to Michael Baitzer (“repetiteur”) who accompanied and coached the singers in rehearsal. Aaron Copp designed the lighting. The soloists and instrumentalists were occasionally highlighted by spotlights. The operators need a little more rehearsal to make sure the spotlights are brought up at the very beginning of the solo. 

The Washington Chorus, representing Egyptians, Ethiopians, priests, priestesses, officials, ministers, captains, soldiers, slaves, and prisoners in the various scenes performed with clear attention to diction and dynamics as the music and Maestro Heyward indicated. The opera has scenes calling for a women’s chorus and a men’s chorus to perform separately as well as in unison, and this group handled the singing expertly both on and offstage.

The BSO Opera Giving Circle also supported a handsome and interesting program for this concert which offered a scene by scene synopsis (courtesy of the Detroit Opera) and very detailed program notes by author Helen Greenwald. Reading this information just minutes before the program began enhanced my understanding and enjoyment of the opera.

After several standing encores of applause, the BSO season ended in a blaze of glory with beautiful music sung and played by a superb cast and orchestra. Audiences can look forward to next season’s programming with interest and enthusiasm. Until then, the BSO continues with a summer season of pops concerts.

Running Time: Two hours and 45 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission

“Verdi’s ‘Aida’ Conducted [Johnathon] Heyward” was performed on June 13, 2025 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore MD 21201 and will be performed on Sunday, June 15, 2025 at The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852. For more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming events, please call the Box Office in Baltimore at 410-728-8000 or in North Bethesda at 877-726-1444 or go online. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12 noon-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Box Office is also open one hour before each performance through intermission for walk-up sales.