Friday’s performance started off on shaky ground with soprano Hope Briggs, as Aida, sounding tentative in the first act. Fortunately, Briggs’s singing got stronger with each successive act, which contributed to the production’s rising power. The energy peaked at the final curtain. While her voice sounded thin at times, especially in the lower register, her singing in the upper register, however, was spotless.

Briggs is a name to watch because of her capacity to add great emotional shadings to her singing. (She will appear as Donna Anna in San Francisco Opera’s upcoming production of Don Giovanni next June.) Perhaps Aida is not the perfect vehicle for Briggs, who has said she relishes roles that showcase her range and bright and excellent coloratura, such as Leonora in Il Trovatore.

The expectation was that Briggs would deliver a standout performance. But it was mezzo soprano Oksana Sitnitska, as Amneris, who made the biggest splash. Her consistently powerful and rich tone and seething stage presence, proved that she could hold her own with Briggs. This was Sitnitska’s United States debut as an opera singer and she did not disappoint. Although a tad stilted as an actress, Sitnitska fully grasped the role of the double-dealing Amneris, who is betrothed to Radames. However, Briggs, as magnetic a performer as Sitnitska, proved the better actress.

Drew Slatton, as Radames, deeply impacted the show with his expressive, fluid, and emotionally focused tenor. Slatton added a gutsy flavor to his character that underscored Radames’ volatility. Ralph Cato, as Amonasro, also gave a strong performance. The sureness of his baritone was complimented by his intelligent delivery. Bass Gregory Stapp, as the Egyptian king, and bass-baritone Donald Sherrill, as Ramfis, held their own among the strong cast, and the chorus sang the sacred ritual scene at the end of Act I with a deep soulful quality. Conductor Timm Rolek coaxed a restrained performance from the orchestra. There was some bright and lively playing, especially the brass section during the Triumphal March. At times, the timpani was overstressed, muddying the orchestra's sound in the cavernous hall.

The large, tasteful, and visually dramatic sets served their purpose regally, without distracting audience attention from the story. In every way the sets informed the symbolic nature of Verdi’s opera, where the greater good vanquishes individual desires. Whether it is the towering statue of a pagan god or the imposing columns of a tomb, the characters in this opera are clearly overwhelmed by the situations they are caught in, and what awaits them is the tragic end of all outlaws. In that sense, the opera, whose libretto was written by Antonio Ghislanzoni, stays close to the dictums of Greek tragedy.

Marvel’s minimally invasive stage direction allowed the fervor of this opera’s steamy love triangle to bloom. But Aida is an opera that is as much about choice as it is about love. That point is driven home in Act III when Radames surrenders to a charge of treason for divulging military secrets to Aida. Rather than run away with Aida, Radames drops his sword and gives himself up. It is as deeply symbolic an act as can be found in the operatic repertoire, and Slatton played the scene elegantly. Making tragic moments like that matter despite an indifferent landscape is what good opera is all about.

(Edward Ortiz writes for The Sacramento Bee and has written for The Boston Globe, The Berkshire Eagle, and The Providence Journal.)

©2006 Edward Ortiz, all rights reserved