“The benefits of this casting were immediately apparent both for the music and the drama. Ms. Moore knows how to project a beautiful imperiousness. The proud shell over the vulnerable core.
As well she manages a sly insincerity that lets the audience in on her character’s truth but never her fellow players. She laid a beautifully subtle trap for Aida in their duet and then her frustration in Act IV with Radames” continued refusal to renounce Aida was palpable.
Vocally because of her naturally higher vocal placement she showed an ease of amplitude in many parts of the role that most interpreters simply can’t. The repeated “Vieni, amor mio” in her chambers at the top of Act II, which are usually ungainly sounding, here were the voluptuous love call Verdi intended.
The beauty of her instrument made her simply a woman wronged and not the usual vicious intriguante. She played an extraordinarily nuanced Judgment that kept building on itself. First bringing applause after her short arioso following the confrontation with Radames and then unleashing an inferno of tireless vocalism at the denunciation of Ramfis. Honestly the first Amneris I’ve seen live who didn’t run out of steam on the final pages. She was richly rewarded for her efforts by the audience.” Parterre Box