Kristin Lewis makes her Met debut in the title role of Aida for four performances beginning January 7

Kristin Lewis makes her Met debut in the title role of Aida for four performances beginning January 7

• Sondra Radvanovsky returns to the title role for three performances beginning February 28

• Dolora Zajick sings the role of Amneris, 30 years after her Met debut;

Olesya Petrova sings Amneris for the first time at the Met

• Tenors Yonghoon Lee and Aleksandrs Antonenko share the role of  Radamès

• Nicole Luisotti and Plácido Domingo conduct the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

            New York, NY (January 3, 2019)—Kristin Lewis makes her Met debut in the  title role of the enslaved Ethiopian princess in Verdi’s tragedy of ancient Egypt, Aida, opening January 7 and continuing through March 7. Lewis appears in the first four performances of the run (January 7, 11, 14, and 18) alongside Dolora Zajick as Aida’s formidable rival Amneris and Yonghoon Lee as the warrior Radamès. The cast also includes Roberto Frontali as Aida’s father, Amonasro; Vitalij Kowaljow as the high priest Ramfis; and Soloman Howard as the King. Nicola Luisotti leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

            Sondra Radvanovsky returns to the Met in the title role for the final three performances (February 28 and March 4 and 7) with Olesya Petrova as Amneris, Aleksandrs Antonenko as Radamès, Quinn Kelsey as Amonasro, and Štefan Kocán as Ramfis. Plácido Domingo conducts these performances.

Aida Radio and Online Broadcasts

The March 7 performance of Aida will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 75, and will also be streamed live on the Met’s web site, metopera.org.

Aida Artist Biographies

American soprano Kristin Lewis makes her Met debut in the title role of Aida, which she has previously sung at the Bavarian State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Arena di Verona, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Hamburg State Opera, Teatro Fenice in Venice, and Opera Hong Kong. She recently sang the title role of Puccini’s Tosca at Hamburg State Opera. Other roles have included Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera at Vienna State Opera and in Venice, Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème in Munich, Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at La Scala, and Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky reprises Aida, which she previously sang at the Met in 2012. She has also sung the role at Paris Opera. After winning the Met’s National Council Auditions in 1995, she made her Met debut the following year as Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto and has sung more than 200 performances with the company to date. Recent roles at the Met include the title role of Puccini’s Tosca, which she performed earlier this season; the title role in a new production of Bellini’s Norma; singing all three queens in Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy during the 2015–16 season, making her the first singer since Beverly Sills in the 1970s to perform all three roles in a single New York season; Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera; and Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. This season she sings the title role of Tosca at the Vienna State Opera; Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at the Bavarian State Opera; Maddalena in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and the title role of Verdi’s Luisa Miller at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

American mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick reprises Amneris, one of her signature roles at the Met. She has sung over 250 performances with the company since making her Met debut as Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore in 1988. Her most recent credits with the Met include Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera,Ježibaba in Dvořák’s Rusalka, Gertrude in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel,and the Countess in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades.Recent performances include Ulrica at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and Mrs. Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw at the Dallas Opera. This season she sings Laura in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Russian mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova makes her company role debut as Amneris. She made her Met debut in 2014 as Madelon in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, followed by performances last season as Federica in Puccini’s Luisa Miller. Other recent performances include Amneris with New Zealand Opera, Polina in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades at the Bolshoi Theatre, and Amelfa in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel at Teatro Real in Madrid.This season she sings Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Opera Østfold in Norway.

South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee sang Radamès at the Met earlier this season when he stepped in on short notice to sing in the October 15 performance. He made his Met debut in the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlo in 2010,and other Met roles include Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco,Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Earlier this season he added another role to his Met repertory as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen. This season he sings Calàf in Puccini’s Turandot at Opera Australia, Turiddu at Vienna State Opera, Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro at the Bavarian State Opera, and Don Alvaro in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino at Opernhaus Zürich.

Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko sang the role of Radamès at the Met earlier this season and has also performed it at Paris Opera and Opernhaus Zürich. He has recently starred at the Met as Calàf in Puccini’s Turandot and sang in concert performances of Verdi’s Requiem. Other Met performances include the title role of Verdi’s Otello, Don José in Bizet’s Carmen,Pollione in Bellini’s Norma,Grigory in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro,and the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka.Later this season, he sings Samson in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila opposite Anita Rachvelishvili.

Italian baritone Roberto Frontali adds a new role to his Met repertory as Amonasro.  Frontali has undertaken many major baritone parts at the Met since his 1992 debut as Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, half of them by Verdi: Germont in La Traviata, Miller in Luisa Miller; Ford in Falstaff, and Count di Luna in the 2002 new production of Il Trovatore. He will be seen later this season at the Met in the title role of Verdi’s Rigoletto. This season he also sings Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca at Hamburg State Opera, Rigoletto at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Amonasro at Teatro Fenice in Venice.

American baritone Quinn Kelsey sang Amonasro earlier this season at the Met.The winner of the 2015 Beverly Sills Artist Award, his other company credits include Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Marcello and Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème.Earlier this season, he sang Giorgio Germont in the Met’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata, which was seen around the world as a part of The Met: Live in HD.

Ukrainian bass Vitalij Kowaljow reprises Ramfis, which he previously sang at the Met in 2007. He made his Met debut as the High Priest of Baal in Verdi’s Nabucco in 2003. Since then he has been seen in a variety of roles at the Met, including Lodovico in Verdi’s Otello, Timur in Puccini’s Turandot, the Old Hebrew in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Oroveso in Bellini’s Norma,and Raimondo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. This season he also sings René in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Met.

Slovakian bass Štefan Kocán previously sang the role of Ramfis at the Met in 2012 and 2015. He made his Met debut in 2009 as the King in Verdi’s Aida. Other roles at the Met have included Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Khan Konchak in Borodin’s Prince Igor, Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Ferrando in Verdi’s Il Trovatore,and the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He sings both Sparafucile and the Commendatore later this season at the Met.

American bass Soloman Howard made his Met debut in 2014 as the King in Aida,a role he has also sung at Washington National Opera and Teatro Real in Madrid.Notable recent credits with other companies include Frate in Verdi’s Don Carlo at LA Opera, the Bonze in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Santa Fe Opera, and Timur in Puccini’s Turandot at San Francisco Opera. This season he sings Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème at Santa Fe Opera and the roles of Cadmus and Somnus in Handel’s Semele on tour with The English Concert, including stops at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Barbican in London, and Carnegie Hall.

Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti made his Met debut conducting Tosca in 2006,and since then has conducted Aida, La Traviata, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, La Bohème,and La Fanciulla del West with the company. This season, he also leads Verdi’s Rigoletto and the Met’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata. From 2009 to 2018, he was music director of San Francisco Opera and has conducted at many other opera companies, including La Scala, Teatro Fenice in Venice, the Bavarian State Opera, Dresden State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Seattle Opera, LA Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Spanish conductor Plácido Domingo has led 166 Met performances of 11 operas and has sung over 690 performances at the Met. The operas he has conducted at the Met include Puccini’s La Bohème and Madama Butterfly, Verdi’s Stiffelio and La Traviata, Bizet’s Carmen, and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Earlier this season at the Met, he sang the title role of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, which marked the 50th anniversary of his Met debut. He will sing Germont in La Traviata later this season at the Met.

For More Information

For further details on Aida, including casting by date, please click here.

Aida

Music by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni

Monday, January 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Monday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Conductor                                Nicola Luisotti (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18)

                                                Plácido Domingo (Feb. 28; Mar. 4, 7)

Production                               Sonja Frisell

Set Designer                             Gianni Quaranta

Costume Designer                    Dada Saligeri

Lighting Designer                     Gil Wechsler

Choreographer                        Alexei Ratmansky

Aida                                         Kristin Lewis* (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18)

                                                Sondra Radvanovsky (Feb. 28; Mar. 4, 7)

Amneris                                   Dolora Zajick (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18)

                                                Olesya Petrova (Feb. 28; Mar. 4, 7)

Radamès                                  Yonghoon Lee (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18)

                                                Aleksandrs Antonenko (Feb. 28; Mar. 4, 7)

Amonasro                                Roberto Frontali (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18)

                                                Quinn Kelsey (Feb. 28; Mar. 4, 7)     

Ramfis                                     Vitalij Kowaljow (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18)

                                                Štefan Kocán (Feb. 28; Mar. 4, 7)

The King                                  Soloman Howard

* Met debut

Production a gift of Mrs. Donald D. Harrington

Revival a gift of Viking Cruises

For prices and ticket information, please call (212) 362-6000 or visit metopera.org.

Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling (212) 341-5410 or visiting metopera.org/groups