Name: Aida
Start: 2022-07-23T19:00:00

Ève-Maud Hubeaux

Adina Aaron

Helena Juntunen

Gaston Rivero

Agnieszka Rehlis

Tommi Hakala

Gevorg Hakobyan

Timo Riihonen

Tapani Plathan

David Hohmann

Philipp Himmelmann

Lili Wanner

Savonlinna Opera Festival

Susanna and Figaro want to get married. They are very much in love, have good jobs at the count’s court and are just moving in their first apartment together. Live is good. If it wasn’t for the conniving count himself, who is in love with Susanna and wants to instill his right to the wedding night again. Together with the countess and the help of teenage page Cherubino, Susanna and Figaro plot against the count.

The Marriage of Figaro

Olavinlinna

When young geisha Cio-Cio-San marries the handsome American army lieutenant Pinkerton, she feels herself the luckiest girl alive. She has it all: love, marriage and a beautiful house on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. For Pinkerton she joins church, angering her family, who abandons her. Madama Butterfly, as Pinkerton lovingly calls her, does it all for love. Pinkerton on the other hand, sees her only as a beautiful distraction before he gets married to an American woman: Like the houses in Japan, also marriage is for rent. He leaves her behind and she never loses hope, that he returns. When Pinkerton finally returns, he doesn’t come alone: His wife Kate is with him to pick up the little boy, that Cio-Cio-San has born. Cio-Cio-San’s world lies in shambles.

Madama Butterfly

Babylonian king Nabucco invades and robs the Jewish population, subjecting them to slavery and forced labour. Power intoxicates and deludes him. It makes the king play god. Meanwhile, the bitter Abigaille, one of the strongest female roles in the operatic repertoire, awaits her own moment of revenge and plots against the young lovers Ismaele and Fenena.

Nabucco

When Courtesan Violetta and nobleman Alfredo meet, it does not take them long to give in to love. Their whirlwind romance takes them from the bustling social salons of Paris into the quiet French countryside. She leaves a life of luster and riches behind. He angers his father by living in sin with an impure woman. After a visit by Alfredos father, Violetta realizes, that them being together is destroying Alfredo’s life and his family’s reputation. She returns to her former life and is confronted by an angry Alfredo, who thinks she has used him. Some time passes by, and Violetta is on her deathbed. Tuberculosis has struck her down. Poor and alone, she awaits death. When Alfredo learns the reason why Violetta left him and that she is dying, he comes to her. They plan to leave Paris, but there is no time left.

After Alexandre Dumas’ The Lady of the Camellias Verdi composed an opera full of undying melodies, beginning with the famous drinking song “Libiamo ne ‘liete calici” via Violettas heart-wrenching aria “Estrano…Af fors’e lui” to Violetta and Alfredo’s hopeful, yet sad Duetto “Parigi, o cara”. It is no wonder, that La Traviata is one of the most played operas.

La Traviata

It’s basically your classic Romeo and Juliet story but gets even trickier when a third wheel is introduced to the mix. High priestess Norma is in love with Roman proconsule Pollione, under whose command Norma’s land has been invaded and her people subjected to Roman rule. Despite fighting on opposite fronts, they not only have fallen in love, but have had two children in secret. No one can know of Norma’s and Pollione’s relationship, for this would mean Norma’s political fall from grace. When Pollione falls in love with the young priestess Adalgisa, Norma is deeply hurt and angered. The events take a tragic and fatal turn. 

Norma, especially in its concert version, has a long-standing tradition. As one of the most important works of the bel canto repertoire, it has been established as the diamond standard for a soprano’s vocal and dramatic prowess. Recordings of the aria “Casta diva” have been made famous by the likes of Maria Callas and Edita Gruberova.

With Lisette Oropesa, who will sing the title role for the very first time, the new generation of singers has found just the perfect someone to continue the legacy of grand soprano art. Known to the Savonlinna Opera Festival audience for her stellar performance in the 2023 production of Roméo et Juliette, Lisette has since continued to grace the world’s leading opera houses, firmly establishing herself as one of the true superstars of the operatic stage.