Looking Ahead
Aida
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Ending the Season on a High Note
This production is a project close to BSO Music Director Jonathon Heyward’ s heart, launching a fouryear Verdi Opera Initiative that concludes each season with an operatic masterpiece by the legendary composer.
“ As a cellist, I have played in opera orchestras and have always loved performing Verdi operas,” Heyward shares.“ This new initiative is a great opportunity to experience these works from the podium.”
Aida is a sweeping tale of love, loyalty, and sacrifice set against the grandeur of ancient Egypt. In true Verdian style, the music evokes deep emotion— from the tenderness of forbidden love to the agony of impossible choices. Aida, an Ethiopian princess held captive by the Egyptians, falls in love with Radamès, an Egyptian military commander. As politics, loyalty, and intrigue collide, their devotion is tested, culminating in one of the most dramatic and heart-wrenching finales in operatic history.
BRINGING OPERA TO THE ORCHESTRAL STAGE
When Giuseppe Verdi’ s Aida premiered in Cairo, Egypt, on December 14, 1871, it became an instant success. Within 15 years, the opera had graced stages across the globe— from Buenos Aires and Berlin to Vienna, Paris, London, Melbourne, and New York’ s Metropolitan Opera, where it has since been performed over 1,100 times. This June, for the first time in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’ s history, Aida makes its triumphant debut at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore and The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda.
Full-length operas are rarely performed on the orchestral stage, but Heyward believes that the musicians of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra are perfectly suited for the task.
“ The quality of this orchestra fits so well with the dramatic and flexible music of Verdi,” Heyward explains.“ What’ s exciting about Aida is that, when you pare it down, it has a simple, beautiful narrative. Streamlining this story into a fascinating semi-staged adaptation provides an even more captivating perspective that I think audiences will cherish.”
A STAR-STUDDED CAST
BSO audiences can look forward to an all-star cast of internationally acclaimed vocalists. Leading the production is twotime GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Angel Blue as Aida, praised for a“ voice warm and golden yet immensely powerful”( The New York Times), reuniting with Heyward after her 2022 performances with the Detroit Opera in the same role. Joining her
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