In the Spotlight: A Close Look at Voice as a Narrative Tool

Filmmakers direct an audience’s attention by alternating between close-ups, long shots, and shots from different characters’ perspectives. An opera composer like Giuseppe Verdi performs a similar feat with musical means. Act II, Scene 2 of Aida, in which the victorious Egyptian army marches into Thebes, followed by its prisoners (and accompanied in the Metropolitan Opera production by an array of carriages and live animals), offers a prime example.

In the music heard in Track 31, Aida has discovered her father among the prisoners (though only she knows him to be the Ethiopian king). As the track begins, Radamès sings of the sorrow he sees in her expression. Within moments, Amneris, misinterpreting his sympathy, comments on Radamès’s desire for Aida and her own yearning for vengeance. Then Amonasro, together with the Ethiopian prisoners, the people of Egypt, and their king all sing of mercy for the vanquished. All of this is heard at the same time. In a movie, it would be a “cast of thousands” scene. Then suddenly Aida’s voice soars wordlessly above the throng—the musical equivalent of a close-up.

Track 32 takes place a few moments later. The assembled crowd sings “Glory to Egypt”—Egyptians for their victory, Ethiopians for their conqueror’s mercy. In Track 33, the priests join in, stressing the role of the goddess Isis against the same martial rhythm. Track 34 provides another close-up on the despairing Aida. The choruses of Egyptians, Ethiopians, and priests sing on: Radamès worries that, as the victorious captain, he will have to marry Amneris; and Amneris believes her dreams are about to come true—yet Aida’s grief soars above them all.

In Track 35, Verdi “cuts” to a different close-up: we hear Amonasro hurriedly, stealthily encouraging his daughter to take heart. Then Verdi promptly turns back to the main action. For a brief moment at the start of Track 36, we hear Radamès continue his plaint, then Amneris, Amonasro, and the rest continue their parts. At last, in Track 37, six soloists and a full chorus restore order with the original “Glory to Egypt” (heard in Track 32), initiating the grand orchestral and choral climax of Track 38. But thanks to the genius of Verdi’s writing, amid dozens of triumphant voices and instruments Aida’s distinctive soprano soars above the throng again and again. Against the power of mighty Egypt, the slave’s voice asserts itself—right up until a reprise of the familiar Triumphal March brings the proceedings to a close see Musical Highlight: Five Little Pitches).

The entire sequence can be heard in Track 39.