Aida
Opera by Giuseppe Verdi
St.Gallen Festival
Aida is an Ethiopian princess who lives as a prisoner of war. She loves Radamès, the Egyptian army commander, who is actually her enemy and is supposed to marry the Egyptian king's daughter Amneris. But Radamès loves Aida. The young love becomes a pawn in the unscrupulous power politics of a cemented political system - and ends fatally. With Verdi's fascinating masterpiece directed by Ben Baur, this time Konzert und Theater St. Gallen is staging the festival at its own venue.
At the height of his fame, Giuseppe Verdi wrote Aida for the opera in Cairo in 1870, commissioned by the Egyptian viceroy Ismail Pasha. The famous Egyptologist August Mariette had set the fictional story in Egyptian antiquity. Naturally, Verdi used the exotic Kulisse for the musical pomp. But only in the foreground. In addition to the famous triumphal march - played on specially made trumpets - and monumental choral scenes, the opera captivates with its skeptical interpretation of history and a universal, chamber-play-like fine drawing of the characters and conflicts on the reverse side of the representative: Magical moments of longing and loneliness in the quiet and lyrical, and a heartfelt call for peace in a world that in some ways resembles our own.
Director and set designer Ben Baur returns to the Konzert und Theater St. Gallen with Aida after his acclaimed production of Faust by Charles Gounod in 2020. With this last project close to his heart, Modestas Pitrenas says farewell as chief conductor of Konzert und Theater St.Gallen
The festival in his own house also includes a supporting program with culinary and artistic interludes on the Theaterplatz in a summery, relaxed evening atmosphere.
Musical direction: Modestas Pitrenas
Direction and stage: Ben Baur
In the leading roles: Amber Monroe, Marcelo Puente, Vincenzo Neri, Libby Sokolowski, Jonas Jud, Sultonbek Abdurakhimov, Olivia Smith, Riccardo Botta
Choir of Theater St. Gallen
Opernchöre St.Gallen
Symphony Orchestra St.Gallen.
Translated with DeepL
