CHICAGO (2/8/24) — Torn between love and loyalty, a captive princess must choose between her patriotic duty and her love for an enemy hero in Giuseppe Verdi’s classic Aida, on stage at Lyric Opera of Chicago from March 9 to April 7, 2024. Music Director Enrique Mazzola adds the 100th title to his vast operatic repertoire with his very first performances of Aida. The production also marks the final opera of Anthony Freud’s 13-year tenure as Lyric’s General Director, President & CEO. Spirited dance sequences by renowned choreographer Jessica Lang draw audiences even further into the mythic world created by director Francesca Zambello for this new-to-Chicago production.
Forbidden love in a time of war. Aida, a young enslaved woman, harbors secret feelings for the military hero Radamès, who has conquered her people. Unbeknownst to her captors, she is also a princess and the daughter of their sworn enemy, Amanasro. As the occupying King’s own daughter Amneris desperately seeks the affections of Radamès for herself, Aida must make an impossible choice. One of the most beloved masterpieces in all of opera, Aida features such famous arias as “Celeste Aida,” “Ritorna vincitor,” and “O patria mia,” along with intimate duets, extended dance sequences, and the grand Triumphal Scene, during which 200 artists will be on stage and in the orchestra pit. Aida is a timeless story of hard-won trust, unexpected betrayal, bitter resolve, poignant remorse, and heart-wrenching vulnerability.
More musical milestones in a “season of firsts.” Lyric's Music Director Enrique Mazzola is known as one of the world’s leading interpreters of the works of Verdi, and with this production he conducts Verdi’s epic Aida for the very first time in his captivating career. Previously at Lyric he has conducted the composer’s Luisa Miller, Macbeth, Ernani, and Don Carlos. Aida also marks the 100th opera in Mazzola’s vast repertoire of operas he has conducted. The 2023/24 Season has been a “season of firsts” for the conductor; earlier in the season he led performances of The Flying Dutchman, his first Wagner opera at Lyric, and Terence Blanchard’s Champion, his first contemporary opera at Lyric. In a final “first” of the 2023/24 Season, Mazzola will conduct Mozart’s Requiem, his first Mozart for Lyric audiences.
For the final two performances on April 4 and 7, Aida will be conducted by Francesco Milioti, a valued member of Lyric’s music staff for the past ten seasons who also serves as Music Director for OPERA San Antonio and The Florentine Opera in Milwaukee.
A production anchored by three dynamic voices. Aida reunites the accomplished Verdian singers Michelle Bradley and Russell Thomas, who recently triumphed as another of opera’s doomed couples in Puccini’s Tosca in Lyric’s 2021/22 Season, in the roles of Aida and Radamès. Bradley has performed the role of Aida across the globe, including at the Metropolitan Opera. Following a familiar path of great Verdi sopranos, Bradley first performed the role of the Priestess in Aida at the Met in 2017 before taking on the title role there in 2022. Thomas has been a Lyric favorite since his debut in the 2016/17 Season as Pollione in Bellini’s Norma, and adds the role of Radamès to his Verdi repertoire at Lyric, which includes spellbinding performances as Manrico in Il trovatore in the 2018/19 Season and in the title role in Ernani in the 2022/23 Season. The third side of Aida’s love triangle is Jamie Barton as Amneris, her seventh role at Lyric and her first since her mesmerizing portrayal of Azucena (opposite Thomas) in Verdi’s Il trovatore in the 2018/19 Season. Barton is the winner of many prestigious prizes, including the Richard Tucker Award, the Met’s Beverly Sills Artist Award, and the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
A charismatic cast of performers. Fresh off his critically acclaimed portrayal of Emile Griffith in Lyric’s Champion earlier this season, Reginald Smith Jr. sings the role of Aida’s father, Amanasro. Önay Köse, a former ensemble member of Berlin’s famed Komische Oper, makes his Lyric debut as Ramfis, the High Priest who advises Radamès. Members of the Ensemble of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Lyric’s artist-development program, appear in key roles in Aida: Wm. Clay Thompson is the King, Kathryn Henry is the Priestess, and Alejandro Luévanos is the Messenger.
A director’s daring vision. Internationally renowned director Francesca Zambello returns for her tenth time at Lyric. Known for her visual acumen, focused character work, and compelling storytelling, Zambello has directed the recent Lyric productions of West Side Story in the 2018/2019 and 2022/23 Seasons and Florencia en el Amazonas in the 2021/22 Season. She also previously teamed with Mazzola for Verdi’s Luisa Miller in the 2019/20 Season. Her production of Aida carefully balances the grand scale of its military scenes with the startling intimacy of its love story.
Alluring visual artistry. The production’s striking original concept design is by artistic designer RETNA, a celebrated street artist based in Los Angeles whose work uses calligraphy, hieroglyphics, and bold colors to evoke a mythic past with a contemporary edge. RETNA’s mural work can be seen locally in Chicago on the south wall of 33 East Congress, part of the Wabash Arts Corridor, and his diverse commercial projects include the cover of Justin Bieber’s Purpose album and collaborations with Nike and Louis Vuitton. RETNA makes his Lyric debut with this production.
Aida features the stagecraft of set designer Michael Yeargan, whose work has been a mainstay at Lyric since his debut in the 1991/92 Season; costume designer Anita Yavich, a veteran of many Broadway and off-Broadway productions who recently designed the costumes for Opera Australia's Ring Cycle, in her Lyric debut; and lighting designer Mark McCullough, who has collaborated with Zambello on seven previous productions at Lyric.
Incredible feats of dance and voice. Acclaimed choreographer Jessica Lang, in her Lyric debut, brings her unique contemporary dance sensibility to Aida, creating stunning choreography for some of the opera's most spectacular scenes. Since 1999, Lang has created more than 100 original works for dance companies worldwide, including American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, and her own company Jessica Lang Dance, which she led from 2011 to 2019. The Lyric Opera Chorus, whose 100 voices power some of the opera's most magnificent musical moments, is led by chorus director Michael Black.
A beloved masterpiece returns to Chicago. For the first time in more than a decade, Aida’s timeless tale of duty versus desire is on spectacular display at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Under the impeccable musical leadership of Enrique Mazzola and the bold direction of Francesca Zambello, audiences will be deeply moved by Verdi's towering drama of passionate love, thundering vengeance, and heartbreaking sacrifice.
Important to know…
- 10 chances to see Aida: March 9; matinees on March 13 and 17; March 20, 23, 26, and 29; April 1; and matinees on April 4 and 7.
- The performances on March 9 through April 1 are conducted by Enrique Mazzola; the April 4 and 7 performances are led by Francesco Milioto.
- Performed in Italian, with easy-to-follow English translations projected above the stage.
- A total running time of 3 hours, including one intermission.
- The photo exhibit concrete, rose. by acclaimed Chicago photographer Patric McCoy has been extended by popular demand. The exhibit, located in the Grand Foyer and on the mezzanine level of Lyric Opera House, will be open and free to the public between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday from March 12 to April 5; the exhibit will be open to ticketholders 90 minutes prior to all performances of Aida.
- One hour before each performance, Colin Ure will lead a pre-opera talk on the composition history and social context of Aida.
- Audio description, a guided touch tour of the set, and SoundShirts are available at the March 17 matinee performance. For more information, visit lyricopera.org/accessibility.
- Lyric offers tickets for accompanied school-age children up to age 17, priced from $20–50 for all opera performances. For more information on purchasing child tickets, contact our Audience Services team by phone at 312.827.5600.
- More information and tickets: visit lyricopera.org/aida or call 312.827.5600.
