Aida

Giuseppe Verdi

Aida

Upcoming Performances

Tuesday

Dec 31 at 6:30 PM

Saturday

Jan 4 at 8 PM

Tuesday

Jan 7 at 8 PM

Friday

Jan 10 at 7 PM

Tuesday

Jan 14 at 7 PM

Saturday

Jan 18 at 12:30 PM

Tuesday

Jan 21 at 8 PM

Saturday

Jan 25 at 12:30 PM

Friday

Mar 14 at 8 PM

Tuesday

Mar 18 at 7:30 PM

Saturday

Mar 22 at 12 PM

Wednesday

Mar 26 at 7:30 PM

Saturday

Mar 29 at 8 PM

Sunday

Apr 27 at 3 PM

Thursday

May 1 at 7:30 PM

Monday

May 5 at 8 PM

Friday

May 9 at 8 PM

Overview

Soprano Angel Blue makes her long-awaited Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for the New Year’s Eve premiere of Michael Mayer’s spectacular new staging, which brings audiences inside the towering pyramids and gilded tombs of ancient Egypt with intricate projections and dazzling animations. Mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi, following her 2024 debut in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, is Aida’s Egyptian rival Amneris, sharing the role with Elīna Garanča, who returns to the Met for the first time since 2020. Leading tenors Piotr Beczała and Brian Jagde alternate as the soldier Radamès, who completes the greatest love triangle in the repertory. The all-star cast also features baritones Quinn Kelsey and Amartuvshin Enkhbat and bass-baritone Eric Owens as Amonasro and basses Dmitry Belosselskiy, Alexander Vinogradov, and Morris Robinson as Ramfis. Christina Nilsson makes her Met debut in the title role in March, and Alexander Soddy shares conducting duties.

Please note that video cameras will be in operation during the Jan 21 and Jan 25 performances as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions.

Production sponsored by C. Graham Berwind, III

Languages

Languages sung in Aida

Sung In

Italian

Titles

Title languages displayed for Aida

Met Titles In

  • English
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian

Timeline

Timeline for the show, Aida

Estimated Run Time

3 hrs 15 mins

  • House Opens

  • Acts I and II

    90 mins

  • Intermission

    30 mins

  • Acts III and IV

    75 mins

  • Opera Ends

Aida

World Premiere: Khedivial Opera House, Cairo, 1871. This grandest of grand operas features an epic backdrop for what is in essence an intimate love story. Set in ancient Egypt and packed with magnificent choruses, complex ensembles, and elaborate ballets, Aida never loses sight of its three protagonists. Few operas have matched Aida in its exploration of the conflict of private emotion and public duty, and perhaps no other has remained to the present day so unanimously appreciated by audiences and critics alike.

Creators

In a remarkable career spanning six decades in the theater, Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) composed 26 operas, at least half of which are at the core of today’s repertoire. His role in Italy’s cultural and political development has made him an icon in his native country. The story of Aida is thought to be the creation of Auguste Mariette (1821–81), an extraordinary French archaeologist who was the founder of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. Camille du Locle (1832–1903), who collaborated on the scenario with Mariette and suggested the story to Verdi, had worked with the composer on the libretto of Don CarlosAida’s librettist, Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824–93), was a novelist and poet as well as the creator of some 85 libretti.

Michael Mayer

Production

Michael Mayer

Christine Jones

Set Designer

Christine Jones

Susan Hilferty

Costume Designer

Susan Hilferty

Kevin Adams

Lighting Designer

Kevin Adams

59 Productions

Projection Design

59 Productions

Oleg Glushkov

Choreographer

Oleg Glushkov

Production Consultant

Stephen Pickover

Headshot of Giuseppe Verdi

Composer

Giuseppe Verdi

Setting

Aida

The libretto indicates merely that the opera takes place in “ancient Egypt, in the time of the pharaohs.” This may sound vague, but it was a clear direction to approach the drama as myth rather than anthropology or history.

Videos

Music

The score of Aida is a sophisticated example of Italian Romanticism, imbued with a convincingly mysterious and exotic hue. Making no claims to authenticity, Verdi created a unique musical palette for this opera. The grandeur of the subject is aptly conveyed with huge patriotic choruses, most notably the unforgettable Triumphal Scene in Act II. These public moments often serve as frames for the solos of the leading tenor and soprano: his soaring “Celeste Aida” right at the beginning of Act I, her impassioned “Ritorna vincitor!” that follows, and her great internal journey, “Qui Radamès verrà! … O patria mia” in Act III.