Angel Blue in the title role of Verdi’s Aida © Ken Howard / Met Opera
As part of its Summer Encores series, the Metropolitan Opera brings back to the cinema Guiseppe Verdi’s Aïda, one of the most popular operas in the repertoire. This production, first seen Live in HD on 25th January 2025, stars soprano Angel Blue in the title role, and tenor Piotr Beczala as her lover Radamès. The cast also features baritone Quinn Kelsey as Aïda’s father Amonasro, King of Ethiopia, and mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi is Amneris, daughter of the Egyptian king. The production is directed by Michael Mayer, and led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Aïda was commissioned in 1869 by the Khediv of Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo. The premiere was delayed because the scenery and costumes were unable to be delivered from Paris, due to the siege of the city in 1870-71, during the Franco-Prussian War, and it wasn’t until December 24th, 1871, that the opera opened in Cairo.
Set in Egypt, the opera was inspired by French archaeologist Auguste Mariette – who provided the scenario that Verdi and his librettist, Antonio Ghislanzoni – adapted into Aïda. The original opera takes place during a time of conflict between the Egyptians and the Ethiopians.
Radamès, a captain of the Egyptian guard, is in love with the slave girl Aïda, who has been held captive in Egypt, and is really an Ethiopian princess. She is the daughter of King Amonasro, the sworn enemy of the King of Egypt. Aïda’s mistress, Amneris, is also in love with Radamès, and is consumed with jealousy when she discovers that her competitor in love is Aïda. It’s a tale of love, duplicity and, ultimately, tragedy, with Aïda torn between her love for Radamès and that for her country.
American soprano Angel Blue is a two-time Grammy Award winner, the 2020 Beverly Sills Award recipient and the 2022 Richard Tucker Award winner. She has appeared in many of the most beloved roles in the operatic repertory, such as the title roles in Aïda and Puccini’s Tosca, Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata, Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème and Liu in Puccini’s Turandot. During this current season, she has appeared in Houston Grand Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess, returned to the Opéra National de Paris to sing the title role in Tosca, and to the Met to sing both Mimì in La bohème and Liu in Turandot. She is due to appear in recital at the Guild Hall in New York and with the Chineke! Orchestra in the BBC Proms.
Angel Blue and Piotr Beczala in Verdi’s Aïda © Ken Howard/Met Opera
Piotr Beczala has appeared on the stages of many of the major opera houses of the world. During the 2025/26 season, the Polish-born tenor made his stage debut in the Met’s production of Andrea Chénier, as Radames in Aïda at the Opéra National de Paris and as the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka and Don José in Bizet’s Carmen at the Vienna State Opera. Other highlights of his season include that of Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
Judit Kutasi is predicted to be “…. the Verdi mezzo of the next years”, according to BR Klassik. Highlights of the Romanian-Hungarian mezzo-soprano’s current season include a return to the Paris Opera, where she appears as Amneris in Aïda, the role of Ortrud in Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Hungarian State Opera, Pauline in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, a return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Amneris, Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and at the Margaret island Festival in Budapest.
Scene from Verdi’s Aïda © Ken Howard/Met Opera
Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey is considered to be “the premier Verdi baritone of his generation” says Bachtrack. He opened his 2025/26 season at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Guy de Montfort in Verdi’s Les vêspres siciliennes, returning to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alfio/Tonio in a double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. He brought his acclaimed portrayal of Verdi’s Rigoletto to the Canadian Opera Company and the Baltimore Symphony later in the season, returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, made his debut at The Royal Danish Opera, appearing in the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth and returned to the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden as Germont in La traviata.
The screening date for Aïda in the United States is August 5th and tickets for the US performance can be purchased through Fathom Entertainment. Additional participating countries include Aruba, Colombia, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. Encore dates may vary in independent national theaters and in select international venues and Puerto Rico. Check your local cinema listings at metopera.org/SummerEncores.
Further information and details of ticket reservations may be found on the Metropolitan Opera website.
Information sourced from:
Metropolitan Opera program notes
Artists’ websites
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