Music director Carl St.Clair conducted Giuseppe Verdi's Aida with the following cast.
Aida: Kelebogile Besong
Radamès: Arnold Rawls
Amneris: Milena Kitić
Amonasro: Mark Delavan
Ramfis: Julian Close
King of Egypt: Philip Skinner
Messenger: Nicholas Preston
High Priestess: Renée Tatum
Dancers: Tyquan Christie, Raymond Ejiofor, Lisa Gillespie, Isaac Huerta, Natalie Iscovich, and Andrew Martinez
And this completes the Pacific Symphony opera ABC cycle! A for Aida, B for Puccini's La Boheme, and C for Bizet's Carmen.
Per Alan Chapman in his pre-concert lecture, this is officially called a "Pyramid Scheme". :)
Anyways, this is the whole stage in a sandbox. By the time of intermission, it looks like this.
I liked how they used the spotlights, and focused on the singers when they were singing out their thoughts. Kind of like the "Cone of Silence." :)
Here's some trivia, there were 3 CRT televisions like this in the seating sections. This is so the singers can see Carl conduct. They can't use a digital one because of the lag time!
[Update] Here's how the pyramid scheme was made! :)
Music director Carl St.Clair conducted with pianist Olga Kern.
Antonin Dvořák: Carnival Overture, Op. 92
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Conrad Tao: I got a wiggle that I just can’t shake (world premiere)
Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome, P. 141
We went to the Saturday concert. Let's see how Conrad Tao's new piece sounds on the radio. It inspired by the Renée and Henry Segerstrom concert hall! :)
