Verdi's AIDA Returns to the Metropolitan Opera, 10/30

Verdi's Egyptian tragedy Aida, one of the most-performed operas in company history, will return to the Met stage October 30 for a 16-performance revival with rotating casts of acclaimed artists and rising stars. The initial performances will star Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, who made a notable Met debut in the role in 2012, as Aida; Olga Borodina in one of her best-known portrayals as the jealous princess Amneris; Marcello Giordani as the war hero Radamès, a role he first sang at the Met in 2012; Željko Lu?i? in his first-ever Met performances as Amonasro, Aida's father; Ukrainian bass Dmitri Belosselskiy in his Met role debut as the high priest Ramfis; and American bass Soloman Howard in his Met debut as the King. Italian tenor Antonello Palombi will make his Met debut as Radamès on November 22.

On December 26, American soprano Tamara Wilson makes her Met debut as Aida, opposite Giordani as Radamès,Violeta Urmana, who sang Aida with the company in 2009 and 2012, in her first Met performances as Amneris, and George Gagnidze returning to the role of Amonasro. The January 2 performance will star American soprano Marjorie Owens in her Met debut as Aida and American tenor Carl Tanner as Radamès. Marco Armiliato conducts all fall and winter performances ofAida this season.

Beginning April 25, Plácido Domingo will conduct a series of performances starring Oksana Dyka, who made her Met debut as Yaroslavna in last season's new production of Borodin's Prince Igor, as Aida; Urmana and Lu?i? as Amneris and Amonasro; Italian tenor Marco Berti as Radamès; Slovakian bass Štefan Kocán as Ramfis; and Ukrainian bass Ievgen Orlovin his Met role debut as the King.

Liudmyla Monastyrska made an acclaimed Met debut as Aida in a November 2012 series of performances that included a live transmission as part of the Met's Live in HD series. She has sung Aida with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; La Scala; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Berlin and Hamburg State Operas; and Houston Grand Opera. Her other performances this season include four Verdi roles: Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Lady Macbeth in Macbethat Berlin State Opera; Lucrezia in I Due Foscari at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu; and Abigaille in Nabucco at Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Olga Borodina sang her first Met Amneris in 1998 and has since performed the role 35 times with the company, most recently in 2012 opposite Monastyrska. She made her Met debut in 1997 as Marina in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and has since sung 10 other roles with the company, most frequently Amneris and the title role in Bizet's Carmen. Her other Met roles have included Dalila in Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila, Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Laura in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Eboli in Don Carlo, and Marfa in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina.

Marcello Giordani's extensive Met repertory comprises 27 roles. He made his company debut in 1995 as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème, the role he has sung most frequently here. His many other appearances include the title roles in the Met premieres of both Bellini's Il Pirata and Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and leading roles in three other new production premieres: Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and the title role in Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust.

Earlier this month, Željko Lu?i? sang the title role in an acclaimed revival of Macbeth, a role he also sang when the current production premiered in 2007. His other Met roles include the title character in the 2013 new production premiere of Verdi's Rigoletto,Barnaba in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Carlo Gérard in Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Germont in Verdi's La Traviata, Count di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore, and the title role in Verdi's Nabucco. He adds another new role to his Met repertory when he sings Alfio in the new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana later this season.

Tamara Wilson has sung Aida at Opera Australia, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, and will sing the role this spring with Opera Mallorca. Her recent performances have included Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore and Élisabeth de Valois in Verdi's Don Carlos at Houston Grand Opera; Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera at Washington National Opera; and Gulnara in Verdi's Il Corsaro with Washington Concert Opera. Later this season, she will sing the Empress in Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten and the title role in his Die Ägyptische Helena at Frankfurt Opera, and the title role in Bellini's Norma at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Violeta Urmana most recently sang Amneris at the Arena di Verona in both 2013 and 2014. In addition to Aida, which she has sung with the company in two previous seasons, her Met repertory includes nine roles ranging from Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal-the role of her 2001 debut-and Eboli in Don Carlo to the title characters in La Gioconda, Strauss'sAriadne auf Naxos, and Puccini's Tosca. In 2010, she sang Odabella in the first-ever Met performances of Verdi's Attila.

George Gagnidze first sang Amonasro at the Met in 2012 and will sing the role in a new production at La Scala this spring. The Georgian baritone made his Met debut in 2009 in the title role of Rigoletto, a role he repeated with the company in 2010 and 2013. His other Met performances have included Scarpia in the 2010 season-opening new production of Puccini'sTosca, the title role in Verdi's Macbeth, and Shaklovity in Khovanshchina. This April, he will add a new role to his Met repertory when he sings Tonio in the new production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

Oksana Dyka has sung the title role in Aida at Paris Opera, Berlin State Opera, Arena di Verona, and La Scala. She made her Met debut last season as Yaroslavna in Prince Igor. Her performances with other opera companies have included the title role in Tosca at Paris Opera, Berlin State Opera, the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, La Scala, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Dresden State Opera, Frankfurt State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; and the title role in Puccini'sMadama Butterfly at Los Angeles Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Arena di Verona.

Marco Berti first sang Radamès at the Met in 2007. He has sung the role in numerous other opera houses, including La Scala, Arena di Verona, and Berlin State Opera. His other roles at the Met have included Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Don José in Carmen, Calàf in Puccini's Turandot, and Manrico in Il Trovatore. This season, he also sings the title role in Verdi'sOtello in Bilbao; Pollione in Bellini's Norma at Zurich Opera; and Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at La Scala.

Marco Armiliato has conducted more than 300 Met performances, including Aida in 2002, 2003, 2010, and 2012. He has led the company premieres of Wolf-Ferrari's Sly, Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac, and Donizetti's Anna Bolena, as well as new production premieres of Puccini's La Rondine and Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment. This season, he also conducts a Met revival of Verdi's La Traviata.

Plácido Domingo last conducted Aida at the Met in the 1998-99 season. He has led more than 100 Met performances of 10 operas, including Un Ballo in Maschera, Puccini's La Bohème, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Verdi's Stiffelio, Tosca, and La Traviata. In March 2015, he will add a new role to his vast Met repertory when he sings Don Carlo in a revival of Verdi's Ernani.

Aida Radio Broadcasts

The October 30 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on November 4 and 12, December 29, January 10, and April 13. The October 30 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's Web site, www.metopera.org.

The January 10 performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

Aida Fun Facts

With 1,132 Met performances as of the beginning of the current season, Aida is the second most frequently produced opera in the company's history. Only Puccini's La Bohème has been performed more often by the Met.

Sonja Frisell's production premiered in 1988, replacing a 1976 staging by John Dexter. The current staging is the ninthAida production the Met has had in its repertory.

Violeta Urmana is only the third artist in Met history to sing both Amneris and Aida with the company. The only other singers to do so were Rose Bampton, who sang both roles several times between 1933 and 1945 (including both in a single week in January 1940), and Regina Resnik, who sang Aida at in 1944 and Amneris in 1959.

This season, both Tamara Wilson and Marjorie Owens make their Met debuts in the title role of Aida; Liudmyla Monastyrska debuted in the role in 2012. Other singers whose first Met appearance was as the Ethiopian princess include Celestina Boninsegna, Emmy Destinn, Elisabeth Rethberg, Gina Cigna, Stella Roman, Herva Nelli, Antonietta Stella, Galina Vishnevskaya, Alessandra Marc, Angela M. Brown, and Latonia Moore.

For more information on Aida, including casting by date, please click here.

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