Il Re - Kevin Short
Amneris - Iano Tamar
Aida - Tatiana Serjan
Radamès - Rubens Pelizzari
Ramfis - Tigran Martirossian
Amonasro - Iain Paterson
Un messaggero - Ronald Samm
Una sacerdotessa - Elisabetta Martorana

Camerata Silesia
Polish Radio Choir, Krakow
Bregenz Festival Chorus
Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Carlo Rizzi, conductor

Graham Vick, stage director
Paul Brown, stage and costume designer
Ron Howell, choreography
Wolfgang Göbbel, lighting designer

Recorded live from the Bregenz Festival, 22 and 24 July 2009.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 135 mins

Set against the magnificent backdrop of Lake Constance, every production at the Bregenz Festival faces strong natural competitors. But with this first-ever production of Verdi’s “Aida” (in an abridged version) on the lakeside stage, it is easy to overlook the beauty of the surrounding nature. Stage director Graham Vick and set designer Paul Brown conjure up an “open-air spectacle of superlatives” (Die Zeit) that throws a bridge between ancient Egypt and today’s U.S. The stage effects are stunning: ruins of the Statue of Liberty pieced together with the help of giant cranes, boats carrying priestesses and prisoners – parts of the opera even take place in the lake itself! And in the Grand March – one of the most famous marches in opera – a golden elephant comes sailing into view on a barge¿ Under Carlo Rizzi, the Wiener Symphoniker brilliantly support the chorus and soloists, among whom Iano Tamar (Amneris) and Tatiana Serjan (Aida) stand out. Drawing capacity crowds of over 200,000 spectators in just one season, “Aida” is the festival’s most successful opera to date, even more successful than the “Tosca” production, which has been immortalized in the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace”.

"The culture clash of the two communities comes across in some vivid images...The final minutes of the opera, in which Aida and Radames are borne skywards in a flying chariot, are truly breathtaking...Rizzi keeps a tight grip on every rhythm and despatches the opera in double-quick time." - Gramophone Magazine, October 2010.