Aida

As a war rages on, Princess Aida has fallen in love with Radames — but he’s a general for the enemy’s army, poised to lead an attack against Aida’s father. She has to make an impossible choice: should she embrace her new, young love or defend her father and homeland? While Aida is often portrayed with opulent gold-draped dancers, pyramids, and elephants, the opera is at its core an intimate story.

When this Tim Albery-directed production premiered in 2010, it raised a few eyebrows precisely because it stripped down Aida’s typical pageantry to focus on the tale’s emotional heart. Almost ten years later, Albery’s ahead-of-its time vision is due for a revisit.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles.