GIUSEPPE VERDI

 

Aida

 

Nina Stemme (Aida)

Luciana d'Intino (Amneris)

Salvatore Licitra (Radames)

Juan Pons (Amonasro)

Matti Salminen (Ramfis)

Günther Groissböck (King)

Zurich Opera Orchestra / Adam Fischer

 

Stage Director: Nicolas Joël; Sets: Ezio Frigerio;

Lighting: Hans-Rudolf Kunz; Choreography: Stefano Giannetti

 

Zurich Opera presents a stunning new production of Verdi's most popular, most spectacular work, Aida. Director Nicolas Joël transposes the action to the period of the opera's première, at the opening of the Suez Canal. Joël has been nominated to succeed Gérard Mortier as artistic director of Paris National.  Opera from 2009. Ezio Frigerio's sumptuous sets provide a spectacle drenched in the colours of the time of Napoleon III.

 

Swedish soprano Nina Stemme marks her theatrical role debut as Aida with a truly astounding performance in this new staging by Nicolas Joël at the Zurich Opera. She appears at Glyndebourne this summer in a reprise of her acclaimed performances as Isolde under the direction of Jiri Belohlavek.

 

Already a star in the leading opera houses of Europe, Salvatore Licitra rocketed to worldwide notice in the spring of 2002, when he stepped in at short notice for Luciano Pavarotti to save a gala Metropolitan Opera performance of Puccini's Tosca. UK audiences can hear him as Cavaradossi at Covent Garden, 3-19 July. This new production has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

 

Extra features include interviews and a documentary on Cairo, orientalism, the opera house fire...

 

All zones, Format: 16/9 DVD9 NTSC

Sound: PCM stereo, Dolby digital 5.1

32pp booklet Fr, Eng, German

Titles: Fr, Eng, German, Spanish, Italian

SPECIAL FEATURE:THE STORY OF AIDA INTERVIEW WITH VIDEO DIRECTOR ANDY SOMMER

 

Bel Air Classiques 2DVD NTSC BAC022