Aida is one of the most performed operas in the repertoire a tale of a legendary love stronger than death, and a very modern parable about nationalism, belligerence and hatred of the enemy. Giuseppe Verdis monumental opera Aida is returning to the spectacular Floating Stage at Bregenz in summer 2010.

The story of the tragic love between the Ethiopian princess Aida once brought to the Nile as a slave and the Egyptian commander Radames was a triumph at its premiere in Cairo in 1871. Since then it has become one of the most popular and most performed works in the entire opera repertoire.

Verdi conceived Aida as an opera that would have no equal. It has grandiose choral scenes and rousing rhythmic marches, gorgeous arias and romantic duets all brought harmoniously together, and their effect is further enhanced by the exotic flavour of the music. The famous triumphal march with its blaring fanfares and stirring choruses is one of the musical and dramatic highpoints of grand Italian opera.

Director Graham Vick and stage designer Paul Brown were keen to make use of Lake Constance in Aida, not just as a grand backdrop but as an integral part of the production. With ships and platforms, parts of the stage set that emerge from under the water, and entry points for the performers which are both on and under the water the stage set for Aida will come into being during the performance itself before the eyes of the audience.

Verdi and the Floating Stage

"There was, of course, nothing random about my decision to mount Aida, another opera by Guiseppe Verdi, on the Floating Stage. This stage is after all a marvellous venue for everything that this composer did best: transforming grand passion and tragic conflict into superb music." David Pountney, artistic director.

David Pountney's own thrilling and highly acclaimed production of Nabucco in the summer of 1993 and 1994 launched what has become a remarkable series of operas by Giuseppe Verdi on the Bregenz Festival's Floating Stage. It has been clear at least since 1999 with the opera A Masked Ball, whose stage sculpture of a giant skeleton leafing through a book attracted attention all over the world, that the Bregenz Floating Stage and Giuseppe Verdi are a perfect match.

The Floating Stage would seem indeed to be the ideal venue for Verdi operas. With their huge choruses, moving mass scenes and dramatic duets, it is as though they were written specifically with the open-air stage in mind, with its great possibilities for imposing sets.

So Aida will be the opera on the Floating Stage for the first time. David Pountney is not the least perturbed by the fact that the Floating Stage stands in a lake and not in a desert. "It's the first time in the Festival's history that this magnificent 'desert opera' has been staged on the shore of Lake Constance, and of course its poses a considerable challenge. But we think we have found a really exciting production concept."

Performance Info

Times: 9:15pm - 23rd July, 24th July, 25th July, 27th July, 29th July, 30th July, 31st July

9:00pm - 1st Aug, 3rd Aug, 4th Aug, 5th Aug, 6th Aug, 7th Aug, 11th Aug, 12th Aug, 13th Aug, 14th Aug, 15th Aug, 16th Aug, 18th Aug, 19th Aug, 20th Aug, 21st Aug, 22nd Aug.

Running Time: 2 hrs 15 mins