Aida

"It would seem that the first thought that should come to the mind of a director who undertakes the production of Aida is to try to do everything as Verdi wrote. Nevertheless, for some reason no one does exactly that. We used to think that "Aida" is a large–scale spectacle with spectacular scenery and costumes, marching extras, preferably even with elephants on stage. And all the time – forte, forte, forte! But if we open the score, we will see a completely different picture. More than half of the opera is piano and pianissimo.
The conductor and I agreed that we would follow all the authors instructions so that "Aida" from a magnificent show would once again become what it was intended to be – an intimate psychological drama. Before us is a classic love triangle: two women love one man. Everything else – politics, war, religion, intrigue – is the background on which the action unfolds."