Hailed by most of the VIP audience as a glittering triumph, the season-opening production of Aida at La Scala was sniffed at by critics for the extravagance of its "Disney-like" stage sets.
Thursday night's premiere of the Verdi opera was attended by a legion of top politicians, actors and sports stars, most of whom decided that director Franco Zeffirelli had delivered the 'Aida of Aidas' as promised.
Italian Premier Romano Prodi said the performance had been "perfection", French actress Fanny Ardant called it a "marvellous spectacle" and Portuguese soccer star Luis Figo described it as "a dream".
Zeffirelli, who was rewarded for his efforts with 13 minutes of sustained applause, said it had been the "most beautiful night" of his 60-year career.
But even on the night there were a few voices detaching themselves from the chorus of praise. They said the 83-year-old veteran stage and film director had gone over the top with his sumptuous, gold-encrusted sets.
Commentators in the top Italian dailies tended to take this view, while at the same time admitting that as a society event the premiere had been a spectacular success.
Hollywood-Style Aida Triumphs at La Scala, headlined La Repubblica, which published a fairly cutting review next to its pictures and reports of the international stars in attendance.
The daily praised conductor Riccardo Chailly for the musical side of the spectacle, but said the rest made little sense, unless the point was "to draw wonderstruck cries from an audience that has never seen a department store decorated for Christmas".
According to media reports, Zeffirelli liberally sprinkled 200 kilos of gold dust around his stage set and on the splendid mask of Tutankhamun which dominates throughout the performance.
So Much Gold, Sweet Aida, It Almost Looks Like Disneyland, said La Stampa in its headline. It added in a subheader that "glitter, riches, splendour reduce the music to a mere soundtrack and the Verdian poetry is pushed into a corner".
In terms of Hollywood extravagance, the triumphant return of the hero Radames at the end of the second act was singled out by many commentators.
There were about 350 singers, choir members, dancers and extras on stage together and, thanks to Zeffirelli, eight trumpet players were lowered from the sky to blast the notes of the triumphant victory march from midair.
'RISKS BEING COMIC'
Corriere della Sera called the Zeffirelli production a 'blockbuster' but made it clear this was an ambiguous compliment.
The whole opera "revolves around the excesses in the staging", its critic said. "It is so overloaded, so coloured, so crowded that sometimes it risks being comic and it almost always falls into bad taste."
The closing scene, where Aida and Radames die, is so crowded and busy that the whole point - Amneris's solitude - is lost, he said. "It's hard to even see where Amneris is".
As for the opera stars in the leading roles, most critics said that Violeta Urmana, who took the role of Aida, performed proficiently while Roberto Alagna was a little under par as Radames.
La Repubblica, on the other hand, said Urmana was "a bit boring" despite her fine voice and that Alagna managed "quite well".
The premiere of Aida drew a plethora of famous faces, including German Chancellor Angelo Merkel, who sat next to Prodi and shocked some by wearing a trouser-and-top combination instead of a dress.
Among the most photographed of the other VIPs on parade were actor Rupert Everett, fashion designer Donatella Versace, Milan Mayor Letizia Moratti and Italy soccer star Marco Materazzi.
