Celebrating the anniversary of Aida's world premiere

Ain Anger as Ramfis at Houston Grand Opera

Verdi's masterpiece Aida premiered on December 24, 1871. The opera was commissioned for the grand opening of Cairo's Khedivial Opera House. Verdi did not attend the premiere in Cairo, as he was upset that opening night was not open to the general public. He considered the Italian premiere at La Scala in Milan on February 8, 1872 to be its real premiere. 

The U.S. premiere was on November 26, 1873 at the Academy of Music in New York City. The opera has been adapted for motion pictures on several occasions, most notably in a 1953 production which starred Sophia Loren.

Aida at the Teatro Carlo Felice

The opera includes three roles for low voice: Amonasro (king of Ethiopia), Ramfis (the high priest) and the King of Egypt.

A number of noted barihunks have sung each of the roles. The bass role of Ramfis has been performed by Ezio Pinza, Erwin Schrott, Nicolas Courjal, Andrea Mastroni, Kevin Thompson, Ain Anger, Raymond Aceto and Adrian Sâmpetrean.

The Kings: Soloman Howard at The Met and Anthony Reed at San Francisco Opera

The bass role of The King has been sung my Matt Treviño, Ben Wager, Jud Arthur, Kenneth Kellogg, Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Florian Spiess and Anthony Reed.

The baritone role of Amonasaro has been sung by Marco Vratogna, Sherrill Milnes and Michael Honeyman. 

Ezio Pinza and Giovanni Martinelli sings "Mortal diletto ai Numi":

Some of the most famous numbers for low voices in Aida include the Act 3 duet between Aida and Amonasro "Ciel, mio padre...Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate" and Ramfis' "Mortal, diletto ai Numi, a te fidate."
 

Watch Nicolas Courjal as Ramfis in Aida from Orange

Nicolas Courjal (Photo: Chorégies D'Orange Festival)

You can check out the video taped broadcast of Verdi's Aida from the historic Roman theater in Orange on culturebox with French bass-barihunk Nicolas Courjal as Ramfis.

The all-star cast was originally supposed to include Sondra Radvanovsky as Aida, but she withdrew due to fatigue and was replaced by the American soprano Elena O'Connor. The remainder of the cast includes the reigning Amneris of our time, Anita Rachvelishvili. as well as Marcelo Álvarez as Radamès and Quinn Kelsey as Amonasro.

You can click HERE to watch the broadcast.

Andrea Mastroni in Verona's glorious Aida

Andrea Mastroni (top) and Verona's Aida (bottom)

Italian bass-barihunk Andrea Mastroni opens on August 10th as Ramfis and the King in the popular production of Verdi's Aida at the Arena di Verona in Italy. Last season at the Arena, Mastroni's sinister and dark Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto was a big hit singing opposite Leo Nucci and Aleksandra Kurzak. Performances run through September 7th with rotating casts (Cast lists for daily performances can be found HERE).

We should also mention that Marco Vratogna, who has been featured on this site, is singing Amonasro. 

Andrea Mastroni sings "Quel vecchio maledivami" from Rigoletto;

Andrea Mastroni was born in Milan and originally studied the clarinet.  He then began studying voice with the great Italian soprano Lello Cuberli and Rita Antoniazzi. He graduated with honors from the Istituto Claudio Monteverdi in Cremona, while also obtaining a degree in Aesthetic Philosophy. In 2005, he won the Mario Basiola Prize and in 2007 took home both the Giuseppe Di Stefano Competition and the Bibiena Prize.

The current Verona season also includes Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.

On January 10, 21 and 23 next year, Mastroni will be appearing as Walter in Verdi's Luisa Miller at the Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen, Germany.