Arrangement from Wednesday 30 April to Monday 5 May 2025,
4 nights
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) wrote his “Aida” at a politically highly explosive time: Germany and France were on the brink of war (Franco-Prussian War 1870/71), which is why the premiere could not take place until a year later after the scheduled date: Because both the stage sets and the costumes were stuck in the Prussian occupied Paris. The opera had been commissioned by the Egyptian Viceroy Ismail Pasha. However, not, as often wrongly assumed, for the inauguration of the Suez Canal, but for the opening of the new opera house in Cairo in 1871.Aida shows the versatility of this exceptional Italian composer in its entirety: large-scale mass scenes and choruses are juxtaposed with equally intimate, chamber-play-like scenes that reveal a soul drama that is ingenious in every detail. In this respect, the work can certainly be interpreted as a turning point in Verdi’s oeuvre, as it not only focuses on the vocal parts, but also assigns a new and leading role to the orchestra.Verdi received the 150,000 gold francs demanded for his composition, probably the highest honorarium granted to a composer to date. In addition, he demanded his own trumpets for the famous Triumphal March, the so-called Aida trumpets, which had to be commissioned as a special production. Today "Aida" is one of the most successful of the great operas of the 19th century.
Aida♪ - G. Verdi, the 1, nouvelle production
Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Michael Mayer
Angel Blue,
Elīna Garanča
Mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča was born in 1976 in Riga into a family of musicians. She began her musical studies at the age of 5 at the piano. In 1996, she studied singing at the Latvian Academy of Music, then moved to Vienna and the United States. While still a student, she made her stage debut in 1998 as a quick replacement to play Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at the Opera in Riga, Bucharest and Athens. Elīna Garanča then joined the Meiningen Theater troupe, then the Frankfurt one and finally the Vienna State Opera. In 2003 Elīna Garanča became known internationally by singing the role of Annio in Mozart’s La Clémence de Titus at the Salzburg Festival under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. On the strength of her success, she begins to do a series of roles.
Elīna Garanča♪, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Brian Jagde, Morris Robinson, Krzysztof Baczyk
Metropolitan Opera
With the disturbing story of the lust-murdering "Salome," Richard Strauss (1864-1949) achieved his breakthrough as an opera composer in 1905. Based on Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name, Strauss created a one-act musical drama full of avant-garde features with partially suspended tonality, leitmotif technique and an orchestra of over 100 musicians.It is about the beautiful princess Salome, who lives in the palace of her perfidious stepfather Herod. Herod would like to see the young Salome take her place at his side instead of his wife and Salome’s mother, Herodias. Salome, however, evades him and becomes aware of the prophet Jochanaan, who is imprisoned in the court dungeon. In order to be able to speak with him, Salome unceremoniously seduces the captain on guard. But Jochanaan does not return Salome’s fascination. On the contrary, he repudiates her, preferring his dungeon to her presence while proclaiming further prophecies that alarm Herod. To distract her, Herod demands that Salome perform an erotic veil dance. Only when Herod promises Salome everything she desires does she agree. When Salome demands Jochanaan’s head on a silver platter after the dance, Herod is dismayed, but he sees himself bound by his promise. Deeply horrified when Salome thereupon lustfully commits suicide on Jochanaan’s corpse, he orders his soldiers in disgust to kill Salome.
Salome♪ - R. Strauss, the 2, nouvelle production
Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Claus Guth
Elza van den Heever, Michelle de Young, Gerhard Siegel, Peter Mattei
Metropolitan Opera
The Barber of Seville - G. Rossini, the 3, 13h
Giacomo Sagripanti - Bartlett Sher
Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Davide Luciano, Nicola Alaimo
Metropolitan Opera