Aida
27th May 2008
Welsh National Opera, Cardiff
This was a new production for Welsh National Opera. It opened at the Millennium Centre Opera House in Cardiff on 27th May 2008 and then toured to Birmingham.
Aida
| Opera by | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Libretto by | Antonio Ghislanzoni |
| After a scenario by | Auguste Mariette |
| French prose version by | Camille du Locle |
Creative Team
| Conductor | Carlo Rizzi |
| Director | John Caird |
| Set Designer | Yannis Thavoris |
| Costume Designer | Emma Ryott |
| Lighting Designer | Paul Pyant |
| Choreographer | Denni Sayers |
| Chorus Master | Stephen Harris |
| Assistant Conductor | Michał Klauza |
| Répétiteurs | Simon Phillippo / Anthony Negus |
| Community Choir Répétiteur | Sharon Richards |
| Staff Directors | Caroline Chaney / Robin Tebbutt |
| Language Coach | Marko Canepa |
| Stage Manager | Liz Walker |
| Scenery built and painted by | Cardiff Theatrical Services Ltd |
| Properties, costumes and wigs by | Welsh National Opera |
| Armour made by | Creea |
| Additional costumes by | Sally Payne / Denise Hayward / Lois Edmunds / Emma Kingston-Lee / Kisti Spence / Rebecca Harrison-Shoard / Caroline Thorpe / Sophie Khan / Caroline Thomas |
Cast
| Radamés | Dennis O’Neill / Luis Chapa |
| Ramfis | Andrew Gangestad |
| Amneris | Margaret Jane Wray |
| Aida | Zvetelina Vassileva |
| The King of Egypt | David Soar |
| Messenger | Philip Lloyd Holtam |
| Voice of High Priestess, Gran Sacerdossa | Meriel Andrew |
| High Priestess, Gran Sacerdossa | Helen Greenaway |
| Amonasro | Phillip Joll |
| Dancers | Ramon Díaz / Leroy Dios Don Santos / David Klooster / Jessye Parke / Antonio Tengroth / Jolice Truter / Pepa Ubera / Ruth Varley |
Chorus
| Sopranos | Meriel Andrew / Anitra Blaxhall / Paula Bradbury / Megan Llewellyn Dorke / Claire Hampton / Fiona Harrison / Rosie Hay / Samantha Hay / Emma Mary Llewellyn / Laura Pooley |
| Tenors | Michael Clifton-Thompson / Simon Curtis / Paul Gyton / Philip Lloyd Holtam / Alun Rhys Jenkins / Howard Kirk / Gareth Lloyd / Philip Pooley / Gary Watkins / Ian Yemm |
| Mezzos | Amanda Baldwin / Neda Bizzarri / Daniella Ehrlich / Jessica Handley Greaves / Helen Greenaway / Dorothy Hood / Sian Meinir / Anne Morgan / Nicola Morgan / Sarah Pope |
| Basses | Robert Winslade Anderson / Julian Boyce / Laurence Cole / John Gilbert / Jasey Hall / Martin Lloyd / Philip Lloyd-Evans / Alastair Moore / Jack O'Kelly / James Robinson-May |
| Extra Chorus Sopranos | Elizabeth Franklin-Kitchen / Monika Sawa |
| Mezzos | Carolyn Jackson / Kate Woolveridge |
| Tenors | Ross Buddie / Mark Cartwright / Ieuan Davis / Simon McEnery / Richard Monk / Peter Wilman |
| Basses | William Coleman / Ralph Hamer / Stephen Hamnett / Gareth Long / Geraint Miles / Dyfed Wyn-Evans |
Orchestra
| Leader | John Stein |
| Assistant Leader | Simon Lewis |
| First Violins | Simon Lewis / David Adams / Martin Kegelmann / Lowri Porter / Robert Tonkin / Catherine Hings / Peter Lilley / Laurence Kempton / Jane Atkinson / Susan Plessner / Mathias Maurer / John Stein / Jane West |
| Second Violins | Antony Tarlton / Donald McNaught / Ann Jones / Josephine Vos / Marilyn Shewring / Gillian Bradley / Luke Roskams / Craig Pecherek / Deborah Neath / Justine Tomlinson |
| Violas | Philip Heyman / Cédric David / Barry Friend / Domini Lipman / Stephen Lloyd / Louise Brodrick / Audrey Barr / Ross Cohen |
| Cellos | Dawi Watkins / Christopher Hodges / Arthur Davies / Alexandra Robinson / Simon Davison / Andrew Elliott / Adrian Calef |
| Double Basses | John Law / Mikeal Price / Mary Condliffe / Peter Fry / Neil Watson |
| Flutes | Jonathan Burgess / Nicola Dowton / Deborah Martin |
| Piccolo | Nicola Dowton |
| Oboes | Catriona Mackinnon / David Probert |
| Cor Anglais | Gillian Taylor |
| Clarinets | Leslie Craven / Daniel Rye |
| Bass Clarinet | Peter Fielding |
| Bassoons | Stephen Marsden / Christopher Vale |
| Horns | Angus West / Donald List / David Shallow / James Mildred |
| Trumpets | Dean Wright / Martin McHale |
| Trombones | Roger Cutts / John Hendy |
| Bass Trombone | Terry Leahy / Clare Farr / Alan Swain |
| Cimbasso | Jonathan Riches |
| Timpani | Jonathan Herbert / Patrick King / Alasdair Kelly |
| Percussion | Andrew Cookson / Philip Girling / Jonathan Helm |
| Harp | Katherine Thomas |
| Stage Bands | |
| Horns | Nicholas Smith / Oliver Fitzgerald Lombard / Lestyn Porter |
| Egyptian Trumpets | Terry Lax / David Ward / Robert Johnston / Glen Coleman / Robert Ferriman / David Geoghegan |
| Trumpets | Giles Liddiard / Simon Sturgeon Clegg / Jonathan Mainwaring |
| Trombones | Jo Hirst / Greg Morgan / Jonathan Pippen / Aneuryn James |
| Tuba | Daniel Trodden |
| Harp | Ceri Wyn Jones |
Orchestra and Chorus Management
| Chorus and Orchestra Director | Peter Harrap |
| Orchestra Manager | Philip Boughton |
| Chorus Manager | Wendy Franklin |
| Assistant to Orchestra Management | Peter Lilley |
| Acting Pit / Platform Manager | Hywel Evans |
| Music Librarian | Georgina Govier |
| Acting Orchestra and Chorus Attendant | Richard Harrison |
| Secretary to Chorus and Orchestra Management / Librarian's Assistant | Rebecca Donkin |
Production Staff
| English surtitles by | Simon Rees |
| Welsh surtitles by | Mary Jones |
| Associate Conductor | Michał Klauza |
| Head of Music Staff | Russell Moreton |
| Senior Member of Music Staff | Anthony Negus |
| Music Staff | Gareth Jones / Simon Phillippo / Tim Rhys-Evans / David Seaman |
| Librarian | Georgina Govier |
| Technical | |
| Technical Director | Jan Michaelis |
| Secretary to the Technical Office | Nicola Griffin |
| Senior Production Manager | Robert Pagett |
| Technical Manager | Grant Barden |
| Technical Administrator | Alan Parr |
| Assistant Production Manager | Richard Norton |
| Production Carpenter | David Flinn |
| Assistant Production Carpenter | Michael Robinson |
| Maintenance | Harry Hodgkinson |
| Technical Assistants | Wayne Davis / Mohamed Hassan |
| Costumes | |
| Head of Costume | Siân Price |
| Ladies Cutter | Jacqui Wilkins |
| Men's Cutter | Jane Williams |
| Milliners | Sue Cowle / Ani Townsend |
| Head Tailor | Minoca Tyler |
| Senior Costume Maker | Lesley Carlisle |
| Costume Makers | Sinfi Buckley / Elizabeth Craig / Ellen Duncan-Jones / Emma Highgate |
| Props | |
| Senior Prop Technician | Andy John |
| Prop Technicians | Barbara Leith / Torben Schacht |
| Electrics | |
| Acting Head of Electrics and Sound | Ian Jones |
| Deputy Chief Electrician | Paul Woodfield |
| Electricians | Leigh Duncan-Jones / Benjamin Naylor / Daniel Blizzard |
| Stage Manager | Julia Carson Sims |
| Stage Manager | Julia Carson Sims |
| Senior Deputy Stage Manager | Liz Walker |
| Deputy Stage Manager | Julian Johnson |
| Senior ASM | Sarah Crisp |
| Senior ASM/MAX SM | Clare Thorne |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Kate John / Katie Heath-Jones / Charlotte Hayne |
| Master Carpenter | John Hayel |
| Master Carpenter | John Hayel |
| Deputy Master Carpenter | Derrick Tarr |
| Assistant Master Carpenter | Constandinous Micallef |
| Head Flyman | John Riemer |
| Senior Flyman | John Stewart |
| Flyman | Robert Andrews |
| Senior Wingmen | Stephen Bellamy / Mashallah Hayel |
| Wingmen | Steve Harris / Dean Marshall / Rodney McConnel |
| Assistant Wingmen | Robert Ball / Michael Lloyd / Leon Macauley |
| Property Master | Chris Macauley |
| Senior Property Assistant | Peter Hayel |
| Property Assistant | Jake Konten |
| Loaders | Leigh Covill / Mark Edwards |
| LGV Driver | Hedd Owen Rees |
| Driver | Michael Purse |
| Touring Wardrobe | |
| Acting Touring Wardrobe Manager | Sadie Highgate / Suzanne Skelton (temporary) |
| Touring Wardrobe Assistants | Kate Barlow / Sarah Pickles |
| Wigs | |
| Head of Wigs and Make-up | Siân McCabe |
| Deputy Head of Wigs and Make-up | Tigy Tucker |
| Wigs and Make-up Assistants | Rhiannon Finucane / Susan Newbould |
| Cardiff Theatrical Services | |
| Construction Manager | Simon Cornish |
| Project Manager | Craig Tucker |
| Deputy Project Manager | Leejay Burnell |
| Scenic Art Manager | Ian Siddall |
| Draughtsmen | Nicholas Lundy / David Taylor |
| Buyer - Construction | Alan Hiller |
| Administrative Assistant | Helen Godfrey |
| Carpentry | |
| Carpenters | Graham Bailey / Roger Paul / Steven Rees |
| Metalwork | |
| Scenic Welders/Fabricators | Rhys Griffiths / Mansukh Harji / Gary Smith / Newton Wessells / Craig Williams |
| Paintshop | |
| Scenic Artist Supervisor | John Rushton |
| Scenic Artists / Frankie Locke / Julia Skelton | Zena Chandler-Burnell |
| Buyer/Assistant | Nicola Beckett |
Programme Acknowledgements
| Front cover image | Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ, The Dream of Khosru (1874) |
| Costume design illustrations by | Emma Ryott |
| Rehearsal photographs by | Brian Tarr |