After More Than 240 Performances, Sonja Frisell's Staging Of Verdi's AIDA Has Its Final Met Run, Beginning December 2

Verdi's epic opera Aida returns to the Metropolitan Opera stage for fifteen performances, from December 2, 2022, to April 27, 2023.

The monumental production by Sonja Frisell makes its last appearance since premiering in 1988 at the Met, where it has played 240 times. The acclaimed film production designer Gianni Quaranta created the sets. With 1,176 Met performances since 1886, Aida is one of the most popular operas in the house's repertory.

Soprano Latonia Moore, hailed for her performances last season in the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones, stars as the titular Ethiopian princess. Moore performed Aida for the first time at the Met in 2012, making her company debut when she unexpectedly substituted for an ailing colleague. Starting January 3, rising soprano Michelle Bradley steps into the lead for her Met role debut.

The cast also features mezzo-sopranos Olesya Petrova and Anita Rachvelishvili, who both reprise the role of Aida's formidable rival, Amneris, with tenors Brian Jagde and Marcelo Álvarez sharing the role of the warrior Radamès. Baritones George Gagnidze, Quinn Kelsey, and Luca Salsi portray Aida's father Amonasro, with bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the high priest Ramfis. Bass Krzysztof Bączyk makes his Met debut as the King, sharing the role with Alexandros Stavrakakis. Maestro Paolo Carignani leads from the podium.

When Aida returns to the Met stage in future seasons, it will be in a new production directed by Michael Mayer and designed by Christine Jones. Their version was originally scheduled to open the 2020-21 season but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The December 2 and 21, 2022, and May 13, 2023, performances of Aida will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 355. The May 13 performance will also be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

Audio from the December 2, 2022, performance will be streamed live on the Met's website, metopera.org.

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