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At the Met Opera, curtain for the classical interpretation of Aida after more than 260 performances

2023-05-28T08:12:09.394Z

Highlights: Verdi's work – performed since 1988 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York – will return during the 2024-2025 season with a new staging. Aida was first presented by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1871. The opera will return to the Met in a completely revisited staging by American Michael Mayer with catacomb sets and innovative lighting effects. African-American soprano Angel Blue will play the role of Aida in the new version of the opera. The goal is to ensure that the Met remains "a lively, dynamic opera... not a museum," says Peter Gelb.


Verdi's work – performed since 1988 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York – will return during the 2024-2025 season with a new staging.


More than 260 performances, pharaonic sets and extravagant costumes: the Metropolitan Opera bid farewell this week to the classical interpretation of Aida, illustration of the transformation in which the prestigious New York institution is engaged.

This production, first performed at the Met in 1988, has long been acclaimed for its faithful rendition of Verdi's opera, featuring the compromised loves of captive Ethiopian princess Aida and Egyptian General Radamès.

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Designed by Englishwoman Sonja Frisell with sets by Italian director Gianni Quaranta, this staging is famous for its "triumphal march", Aida's best-known tune, a 15-minute theatrical tour de force, with real horses, hordes of dancers, and numerous processions.

A scene that once again delighted the audience gathered one last time Thursday in this majestic hall, conquered by the performance of soprano Leah Crocetto and tenor Jorge de Leon.

Tradition and modernity

Aida was first presented by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1871, at a time when Europe was fascinated by Egypt after major archaeological excavations. The opera will return to the Met in the 2024-2025 season, but in a completely revisited staging by American Michael Mayer with catacomb sets and innovative lighting effects. African-American soprano Angel Blue will play the role of Aida.

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We are delighted to present a new staging " said Peter Gelb, director of the Metropolitan Opera, which seeks to rejuvenate its audience without losing its regulars, more conservative.

The Oscar-winning scenographer Gianni Quaranta was keen to restore a "monumental aspect" but also a certain "form of decadence". "Ancient civilization was disappearing, as if it had been buried by desert sand only to be rediscovered centuries later," he told AFP. The palette of the show includes many shades of gold, evoking this grandiose but bygone world.

«Applause to break everything»

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The opening night of Aida was exceptional " recalled Gianni Quaranta, recalling this scene during the second act, when the room of the Egyptian princess Amneris was replaced by a set of soldiers in a row, with their backs to the audience, announcing the beginning of the triumphal march. "The spectators applauded to break everything," sometimes so loud that they covered some songs, assured the Italian.

The set designer expressed his "disappointment" to see the current production abandoned, but also said he was grateful for the longevity of this classic interpretation of Verdi. "I understand that theatre needs another production, with a different staging and stage interpretation," said Gianni Quaranta.

Before confiding his wish that the many sets, furniture, accessories and costumes, are preserved. "It would be great to be able to offer this production again to a next generation, in 20 or 30 years for example," he said.

The sets of Aïda at the Metropolitan Opera during the last performance on May 19, 2023. KENA BETANCUR / AFP

An opera, "not a museum"

Many theatrical customs have changed during the 35 years of existence of this version of Aida. For years, for example, white singers who played the role of Ethiopian Princess Aida used to dress up in black, a practice that the Met has completely ended in the last ten years.

Great classics of the opera world, including Aida, have also been criticized, accused of conveying many orientalist clichés and stereotypes. This can make the interpretation of nineteenth-century works difficult, says Peter Gelb, director of the Metropolitan Opera since 2006, believing that some of the works of the time "may convey values that are not acceptable today". The goal is to ensure that the Met remains "a lively, dynamic opera... not a museum," he said.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-05-28

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