Organization

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Nadine Weissmann

Amneris

Soprano

Olga Shurshina

Aida

Bass

Alexander Kiechle

Ramfis

Marie Hänsel

A high priestess

Tea Trifković Ferenc

Tenor

Konrad Furian

A messenger

Stage director

André Barbe

Renaud Doucet

Conductor

Guillermo García Calvo

Costume designer

Set designer

Dramaturge

Johannes Frohnsdorf

Chorus master

Stefan Bilz

Diego Martin-Etxebarria

Choreographer

Henrik Victorin

Tatiana Larina

Timo Rößner

Hector Sandoval

Radames

Baritone

Aris Argiris

Amonasro

David Steffens

The King of Egypt

Bjørn Waag

Theater Chemnitz

Others

Chor der Oper Chemnitz

Orchestra

Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie

Ballet

Ballet Chemnitz

Italian

Chemnitz

Germany

Opernhaus Chemnitz

Public

German

Approved

Ismael Pascha, the art-loving khedive of Egypt, had an Italian theater built in 1869 on the occasion of the inauguration of the Suez Canal in Cairo. He wanted a new work from the pen of a famous opera composer of the time. The choice fell on Giuseppe Verdi, who was 56 at the time. But Verdi was cautious at first, so the opera house opened not with a new work, but with his Rigoletto . The opera commission came a little later. Auguste Mariette Bey, a respected French Egyptologist, wrote a historicizing narrative as the basis. Verdi obtained information about Egyptian culture and had the famous Aida trumpets built. In the meantime, Aida was promotedtouched. Two weeks before the premiere, scheduled for December 24, 1871, all tickets were sold out and traders and speculators weighed in gold. The premiere audience in Cairo was enthusiastic. Aida conquered the stages of the world in a very short time. Verdi himself saw this with mixed feelings, since the pompous decor and the grandiose triumphal march were the most popular with the public. The story, marked by unbelievable drama, however, the desperate attempt by two lovers to defend their love against power, jealousy and political constraints, which Verdi had inspired to touch music for the protagonists, went unnoticed to his chagrin.

The general Radamés stands between two women. He has a deep love affair with one of them, Aida. The other, Amneris, loves him and should be married to him as a reward for military success. Since he does not reciprocate Amneris' feelings, her ardent love turns into mad jealousy. The conflict that arises from this triangular relationship is intensified by political power struggles and so this emotionally charged piece is heading for a dramatic end.

With this production, the directing team Barbe & Doucet introduces itself for the first time in Chemnitz. After separate beginnings in the fields of dance, theater, television and opera, the French director and choreographer Renaud Doucet and the Canadian set and costume designer André Barbe have been working together since 2000. Together they created more than 30 opera productions, which are valued for their creativity, their sense of imaginative stage spectacle and their meticulous dramaturgy.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble