Photo Flash: First Look at San Francisco Opera's AIDA
By: Molly Tracy Nov. 07, 2016
San Francisco Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi's Aida in a new production directed by Francesca Zambello and featuring designs by Los Angeles-based, contemporary visual artist RETNA(Marquis Duriel Lewis). A co-production with Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera and Minnesota Opera, this striking and bold vision for Verdi's enduring classic will feature soprano Leah Crocetto and tenor Brian Jagdein their role debuts as the lovers at the heart of the opera, the enslaved princess Aida and the Egyptian war hero Radames. Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk is Amneris, the daughter of the king who desires Radames' love, baritone George Gagnidze portrays Aida's vengeful father, Amonasro, and bass Raymond Aceto is Ramfis. The international cast and San Francisco Opera Orchestra will be conducted by Company Music Director Nicola Luisotti. Resident Conductor Jordi Bernàcer will conduct the final performance on December 6. Ian Robertsonis Chorus Director.
American director Francesca Zambello, whose recent productions at San Francisco Opera include Verdi's Luisa Miller, Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (which will be revived in June 2018), the world premiere of Marco Tutino's Two Women and Jerome Kern's Show Boat, has earned acclaim for her stagings of new works and repertory staples alike. Aida, one of Verdi's most intimate dramas set within arguably his grandest spectacle, employs the sets of Michael Yeargan, costumes designed by Anita Yavich, lighting design by Mark McCulloughand choreography of Jessica Lang. Yavich and Lang make their Company debuts with this production.
Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk will portray Amneris, a role she has performed at many of the world's leading opera houses including Milan's Teatro alla Scala, St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, Berlin Staatsoper and Naples' Teatro di San Carlo. Georgian baritone George Gagnidze, who the Mercury News hailed as a "powerhouse" for his Carlo Gérard in the Company's recent Andrea Chénier, will portray the ruthless Amonasro. American bass Raymond Aceto takes on the part of the implacable Egyptian priest Ramfis. Current San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows bass Anthony Reed, soprano Toni Marie Palmertree and tenor Pene Patiare also featured.
One of the most famous and beloved operas in the repertory, Aida features iconic arias like "Celeste Aida," "Ritorna vincitor" and "O patria mia" along with intimate duets, ballets and a grand triumphal scene. Nearly 150 years after its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, Verdi's score endures as one of the monuments of 19th-century artistic achievement for its fluent combination of intimacy and grandeur in a deeply moving story of passionate love, thundering vengeance and heart-breaking sacrifice.
Sung in Italian with English supertitles, the eleven performances of Aida are scheduled for November 5 (7:30 p.m.), November 8 (7:30 p.m.), November 11 (7:30 p.m.), November 14 (7:30 p.m), November 17 (7:30 p.m.), November 20 (2 p.m.), November 23 (7:30 p.m.), November 27 (2 p.m.), November 30 (7:30 p.m.), December 3 (7:30 p.m.) and December 6 (7:30 p.m.), 2016.
Artist bios for the cast and creative team for this new production of Aida are available at sfopera.com/aida.
Tickets for Aida are priced from $26 to $397 (subject to change) and may be purchased at sfopera.com or through the San Francisco Opera Box Office at 301 Van Ness Avenue or by phone at (415) 864-3330. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of each performance; tickets are $10 each, cash only, and limited to two tickets per person.
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Photo Credit: Sheila Rock
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