Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Temistocle Solera

Riccardo Muti, a champion of the Verdian tradition, makes his Met debut with one of the composer’s rousing early operas. This story of civilization’s encounter with barbarism is explored in a new production by director Pierre Audi. Some of the brightest lights in contemporary design, including Miuccia Prada and the architecture team of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (the 2008 Beijing Olympics “Bird’s Nest” stadium), have created the costumes and scenery. “Our approach is to stay very close to the descriptions supported by Verdi: destruction, rubble, lagoon, forest, darkness—all in a very naturalistic way,” explain Herzog and de Meuron. Ildar Abdrazakov sings the title role, joined by Violeta Urmana, Ramón Vargas, and Carlos Alvarez.