The onstage menagerie has been vanishing. On Tuesday, the company rang in the new year with a new version of Verdi’s Pharaonic classic “Aida” starring the shining soprano Angel Blue ...

By Javier C. Hernández Photographs and Video by OK McCausland When the director Michael Mayer set out to stage Verdi’s “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera, he knew the stakes were high.

You know you’re in trouble when a grand new production of Verdi’s “Aida” only catches fire midway through the second act, after the “Triumphal March”—when Amonasro shows up.