AIDA
Verdi
Metropolitan Opera 1988
DGM 073 001-9
Aida from New York's Metropolitan Opera is the least interesting of the three operas. Re-packaged it may be, but this version with Aprile Millo and Placido Domingo dating from 1988 has long been in the record stores in one form or another. Its great strength lies in its sumptuous settings, some of which win roars of approval from the audience. There may not be elephants, but there are certainly horses and hundreds of extras, all appropriate for a work Verdi was commissioned to write for performance in Egypt in 1871 to celebrate the inauguration of the Suez Canal.
VITUS
Original Soundtrack
Teo Gheorghiu, piano
Sony/BMG 82876859022
Lastly Vitus (pronounced "Veetus"), an original sound-track CD of the Swiss film currently showing in Taipei. It tells the story of a musically gifted boy who, despite being able to play the piano to concert soloist standard, wants above all else to take to the air at the controls of his grandfather's private plane. Teo Gheorghiu plays Vitus aged 12 (an even younger actor plays him when he's six) and plays the piano on screen. Classical piano tracks alternate on the CD with versions of the film's theme music (by Mario Beretta). Gheorghiu clearly has genuine talent, but he's not a virtuoso in his own right. Even so, this CD will appeal to filmgoers who also have an interest in classical music.
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