“AIDA”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 110, 30 July 1927, Page 16

“AIDA”

CHORAL SOCIETY'S PRODUCTION First performed in Cairo on December 24, 1871, for the Khedive of Egypt, \ erdi s “Aida,” which is to be sung by the Auckland Choral Society on August 11 and 13, will be one of the most outstanding works yet performed by this society. Composed at the request of the Khedive of Egypt for his new opera house at Cairo, it was this work which set the seal on Verdi’s earlier triumphs. The scene of the opera is laid in ancient and the music is of a grand and stately beauty unsurpassed in any of his earlier operas. In the words of the English critic Richard Capell, “it is such a masterpiece as to defy even perfunctory execution.” No stone has been left unturned by the Choral Society to ensure an adequate presentation and a strong cast of soloists has been engaged. The cast is as follows:—Aida, Miss Etta Field; Amneris, Madame Winnie Fraser (Oamaru); high priestess, Miss Laura Walker; Radames, Mr. Birrell O’Malley; Amonasro, Mr. Barry Coney; Ramphis, Mr. J. de Montalk; King of Egypt, Mr. Frank Sutherland; a messenger, Mr. Robert Peter. The box plan opens at the E. and F. Piano Agency at 7.30 a.m. on Monday, August 8.