Family Friendly Free Event Critics Pick

Opera at the Ballpark: Aida

San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Giants invite you to Webcor Builders Presents Opera at the Ballpark on Friday, September 24 for a free, live simulcast of Verdi's Aida.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION: For best seating, register for early entry! Beginning at 6:30pm, registered fans can enter the park; entry for the general public begins at 7pm. All gates will open at 6:30 for our pre-registered fans! You must bring your barcoded confirmation printout for early entry.

FIELD SEATING: To sit on the field, we strongly suggest you enter the ballpark through the PORTWALK GATE (along the Marina side of the stadium), where you can exchange your barcoded printout for a field seating wristband. Arrive early; field seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Registering for early entry to the simulcast does not guarantee field seating. Your whole party must be present at the time of entry, because once the Giants have determined the field is full, the Portwalk Gate will be closed to further admittance and no more field seating wristbands will be issued. Remember to bring your barcoded confirmation printout for early entry. You may bring blankets (no lawn chairs) to sit on the field.

ABOUT AIDA: The grandest of grand operas, a brilliant balance of spectacular pageantry and emotional intimacy, returns to San Francisco Opera for the first time in nearly a decade. A bitter love triangle plays itself out against a backdrop of war and cultural oppression in this compelling tale of conflicting loyalties and forbidden passion.

Music Director Nicola Luisotti, the Company’s "ideal new maestro" (The New York Times), leads the first of two extraordinary casts in an "eye-popping production" (Houston Chronicle) created by legendary British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes.

The September cast features soprano Micaela Carosi, "a noble, full-hearted diva of considerable power" (The Times of London) in the title role, along with Marcello Giordani, "arguably the greatest leading tenor of his generation" (Opera News) and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick, who is "unequaled in major Verdi roles" (Washington Post). Baritone Marco Vratogna, whose “striking infusion of vocal power and theatrical electricity” as Iago (San Francisco Chronicle) thrilled San Francisco audiences in 2009’s Otello, sings Amonasro. Bass Hao Jiang Tian sings Ramfis, returning to San Francisco Opera after his triumphant debut as Chang the Coffin Maker in The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2008).

The November cast is led by Michele Capalbo, "a world-class Aida, passionate, subtle and vocally satisfying" (Opera News); tenor Carlo Ventre, a riveting performer who projects "unalloyed passion" (Washington Post); baritone Quinn Kelsey, who "boasts a rare and welcome gift, an enormous vocal sound that he deploys with the lightness of an acrobat" (San Francisco Chronicle); and bass Eric Owens who sang to sold-out crowds as Porgy in Porgy and Bess (2009).