Sweden’s newest international star – soprano Christina Nilsson – will sing Verdi’s Aida at B\u00e5stad’s Tennis Stadium, as the finale of the Birgit Nilsson Festival 2025. She recently made her New York debut performing Aida to standing ovations and acclaim from the press and audience at the Metropolitan Opera – perhaps the most prestigious opera house in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In B\u00e5stad, Christina replaces the Lebanese-Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury. With acclaimed performances three years running at the Birgit Nilsson Days, El-Khoury has, after careful consideration, decided not to perform Aida in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was as Aida that Christina Nilsson made her breakthrough at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm in 2018 under the baton of Maestro Pier Giorgio Morandi, who also conducts Aida in B\u00e5stad. When Bengt Hall, artistic director of the Birgit Nilsson Festival, first asked if she might sing Aida in B\u00e5stad, the summer was entirely devoted to the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany. But after time adjustments from both Christina and Morandi for fine-tuning rehearsals and the go-ahead from Bayreuth, Aida is a role she simply cannot resist. And at home, too; Christina, from Sk\u00e5ne, was born and raised in Ystad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– \u2018It will be so much fun to return home and sing with Morandi again, a real honour!\u2019 Christina texts from New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– I feel very strongly about Aida. There’s something special about a debut role, and it’s one that I love to sing and characterise. The more times I get to perform Aida, the deeper I feel about the role,\u2019 she said in an interview with Opera magazine ahead of her debut at the Met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Nilsson, Nilsson, Nilsson…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1883, the Metropolitan Opera opened with a Swedish soprano in the role of Margaret in Gounod’s Faust – Kristina Nilsson (1843-1921). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the Christina Nilsson of our time made her debut at the Met on 14 March this year, which was followed by four performances, it was the first time in over 60 years that Aida had been sung by a Swedish soprano – and of course then it was Birgit Nilsson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/newyorkclassicalreview.com\/2025\/03\/nillsons-luminous-debut-lifts-the-mets-tomb-raider-aida\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/opusmagasin.se\/christina-nilsson-som-aida-the-metropolitan-opera\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.sverigesradio.se\/artikel\/operasopranen-christina-nilsson-om-met-debuten-ren-och-skar-lycka<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.sverigesradio.se\/avsnitt\/ny-nilsson-i-new-york<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/slippedisc.com\/2025\/03\/a-nilsson-at-the-met\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
August 9 at 7 pm: Giuseppe Verdi: Aida at the Centre court in B\u00e5stad
Read more: https:\/\/birgitnilsson.com\/birgit-nilsson-festival\/<\/a>
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