Studio recordings of large-scale operas are something of a rarity these days, and this new recording, with Antonio Pappano conducting and Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros among the singers, feels like a very special event. The recording of Verdi’s grand opera, first performed in 1871 at Cairo’s Khedivial Opera House, took place earlier this year in Rome’s 2800-seat concert hall the Sala Santa Cecilia with the orchestra and chorus of the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia.
“Aida is an intimate piece … but the intimacy is placed in large spaces,” says Pappano. “My role was to become the stage director creating an imaginary production.” Kaufmann makes his debut in the role of Egyptian general Radamès, Anja Harteros also makes her role debut as the captive Ethiopian princess Aida.
Erwin Schrott (as Ramfis) and Ekaterina Semenchuk (Amneris) and Marco Spotti (King of Egypt) are among the other singers in a starry cast.
The album is released on Warner Classics on 2 October, you can pre-order it on Amazon and Presto Classical, but you can try before you buy and listen to the entire recording exclusively here, for free, for the week prior to its release.
This stream is available until 10am on 2 October.
