Single Tickets Go on Sale for Aida and Elektra

Verdi’s grandest of grand operas, Aida, opens Seattle Opera’s 2008/09 season in August. Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins celebrates his 25th Anniversary this year and he has called the 2008/09 season one of the most diverse that he has ever programmed. Aida is followed by Richard Strauss’s brooding drama Elektra in October. An online presale of single tickets for both productions begins Saturday, May 17, at 9:00 a.m.

Not seen here since 1992, Aida features a new-to-Seattle design. Set in Egypt at the time of the pharaohs and presented in the classic style, Aida will feature lavish sets by Tony-award winner Michael Yeargan (The Light in the Piazza), opulent costumes by Peter J. Hall (I Puritani), stage direction by Met veteran Robin Guarino (Julius Caesar), ballet by Seattle-based choreographer Donald Byrd (Julius Caesar), and the Seattle Opera debut of Italian maestro Riccardo Frizza on the podium. Lisa Daltirus, a critically acclaimed Tosca here in 2008, and Venezuelan soprano Ana Lucrecia García in her U.S. debut alternate in the role of Aida.

In October, Seattle audiences will have a chance to hear the company’s new Brünnhilde, Janice Baird, as Elektra in the Opening Night cast. Also making her company debut is Jayne Casselman, who sings Elektra in the Sunday/Friday cast. The dynamic young conductor Lawrence Renes makes his first Seattle Opera appearance for this production. Two-time Seattle Opera Artist of the Year recipient Chris Alexander directs. New costumes for the 2008 Elektra are designed by Melanie Burgess, sets (previously seen in 1996) are by Wolfram Skalicki, and lighting design will be done by Marcus Doshi.