The Arena di Verona brings Aida to Australia on 5 and 6 February 2026
Zeffirelli’s epic Aida will take place in the Adelaide Oval. For the first time, an entire Italian theatrical production will be performed in Australia.
More than 400 artistic and technical personnel will set off from Verona. Over 300 local chorus members, extras and dancers will take part in a unique show that will pay tribute to Verdi and the operatic heritage of humanity.
The cast is a true line-up of stars: Kaufmann, Blue, Garanča, Enkhbat, Siri, Jagde, Rehlis, Park and Luisotti.
Fondazione Arena is preparing for a historic undertaking. For the first time, an entire opera house, with orchestra, chorus, artists and technicians, as well as sets and costumes, is leaving Italian shores to perform in Australia. On 5 and 6 February 2026, Aida, Verona's masterpiece and symbol of the Verona amphitheatre, in the production created by Franco Zeffirelli, will be in Adelaide, a city on the south coast of Australia, home to a million and a half inhabitants.
From the Arena di Verona to the Adelaide Oval, over 15,000 kilometres away- a long journey for hundreds of people and 28 containers of material. Fondazione Arena di Verona has taken on the challenge of TEG Live and Condon Presents, a project supported by the State of South Australia and the City of Adelaide, in collaboration with the South Australia Opera.
UNESCO-recognised Italian opera singing heritage is heading to the other side of the world with a sumptuous set comprising gold, multi-coloured jewels and opulent costumes. On the 125th anniversary of Verdi's death, Aida at the Adelaide Oval promises to be the largest opera production ever presented in Australian.
Orchestra, Chorus, Dancers and Technicians: almost 400 members of Fondazione Arena will be leaving Verona to debut in Adelaide. Another 300 locals will join the production in Australia: chorus members, extras and solo dancers from the Australian Ballet. This will be an unprecedented collaboration in terms of both artistic and diplomatic value. Opera is a vehicle of relationships, experience, knowledge of music, theatre and the Italian language all over the world.
Two magical nights, with a stellar cast. The principal performers for the two evenings, 5 and 6 February 2026, are beloved artists in the Arena and some of the most celebrated international opera stars: Angel Blue will appear as Aida, alternating with Maria José Siri; Jonas Kaufmann is performing her lover Radamès, the Egyptian commander, alternating with Brian Jagde; the Egyptian princess Amneris will be performed by Elina Garanča, alternating with Agnieszka Rehlis; and the King of Ethiopia Amonasro, the enemy and Aida’s father, will be Amartuvshin Enkhbat, alternating with Youngjun Park. Rounding out the cast are Morris Robinson, as the High Priest Ramfis, and Teddy Tahu Rhodes as the King of Egypt.
This incredible cast perfectly reflects the universal power of opera as an instrument for dialogue and a blend of arts and technical expertise: the soloists come from the United States, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Mongolia, South Korea, New Zealand and, of course, Australia and Italy, alongside the artistic teams involved in this epic show that will be conducted by Nicola Luisotti, a renowned Italian maestro with an internationally acclaimed career – formerly Music Director of the San Francisco Opera, MD of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and now Principal Guest Conductor at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
The Adelaide Oval, a stadium which can host 50,000 spectators, curiously shares the same birth year (1871) as Verdi's Aida and has always hosted important artistic and musical events.
The staging created by Franco Zeffirelli for the Arena di Verona reimagines a golden Egypt, with fabulous costumes by Anna Anni and original choreography by Vladimir Vasiliev.
The aesthetically dazzling work of the director and set designer perfectly illustrates the dual soul of an opera that has been the most popular and most performed since our first season in 1913: Verdi's masterpiece sets a love triangle in the shadow of the pyramids, striking a perfect balance between intimacy and grandeur and conveying a message of timeless peace.
The plot. War rages on Egypt’s borders. In Memphis, the young warrior Radamès is torn between love for Amneris, daughter of the Pharaoh, and his mutual passion for the slave Aida (also a princess, the daughter of the King of Ethiopia, Amonasro). The oracle appoints Radamès general to lead the army against Aida’s people. The Egyptians are victorious and Amonasro is taken in chains to the capital. He hides his identity as the King and receives mercy but orders his daughter to find out the location of the Egyptian army from Radamès. In a night-time meeting between the two lovers, the general unwittingly reveals the secret. Flight for the two of them seems the only possible salvation, despite the dishonour this would cause. But Amneris discovers them, on the eve of her combined wedding to her beloved Radamès. The princess pleads for his life but the young man is sentenced to death for treason. Radamès is taken into a tomb to be buried alive but Aida, who he thought had fled, is there waiting for him. Together, they pray for a better afterlife.
Solemnity and exoticism, triumph and heart-rending drama, a moving story of love and jealousy, of revenge and repentance, a condemnation of war and injustice. All this comes together in the superb score by Verdi, who developed the opera from the original plot written by the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette.
Learn more at www.aidaadelaide.com.au. Tickets go on sale today at www.teglive.com.au.
