For Nmon Ford, stepping into the role of Amonasro in Aida is not simply another stop on an extraordinary career.
It is personal.
The Panamanian-American baritone, composer and librettist is making his Toledo Opera company debut this October in Giuseppe Verdi’s beloved masterpiece. He will portray Amonasro, the King of Ethiopia and father of Aida, at the historic Valentine Theatre on Oct. 16 and 18.
And there is something almost poetic about Ford returning to Aida in Toledo.
Long before the international stages, the demanding roles and the creative projects that now stretch well beyond traditional opera, Aida was the work that pulled him toward opera in the first place.
“I have a special place in my heart for this opera and this role,” Ford says.
He means it.
The Moment Opera Got His Attention
Music found Ford early. He began playing piano at just three years old, later exploring other instruments and eventually turning his attention to composing.
Then he heard Leontyne Price.
Ford watched a recording of Price’s final operatic performance at the Metropolitan Opera, a production of Aida. What he heard was unlike anything he had experienced before.
The voices. The orchestra. The sheer size of it.
He remembers hearing the singers reach extraordinary high notes and then watching the music explode into the Act II finale, with the chorus, orchestra and famous brass fanfare all coming together.
“It was so exciting,” Ford remembers. “I said, I gotta look into this.”
So he did.
His local library became part of his education. He found opera recordings and piano-vocal scores and began studying them on his own.
Ford already had an advantage. He could play the music and he understood many of the languages. His father spoke Spanish, and his mother spoke some French while he was growing up. He later encountered Latin in school.
That background helped Ford develop an ear for different languages and the rhythms within them, while opening him to music beyond his immediate world.
More Than a King
In Aida, Ford becomes Amonasro, a powerful king whose most complicated title may simply be “Dad.”
The opera places him inside a war between Egypt and Ethiopia, but Ford sees the story as something much more intimate.
“Aida is huge in the sense that it’s a war epic,” he explains. “It’s literally two giant nations fighting each other. But it’s intimate in the sense that what drives all of this stuff is a love triangle.”
And then there is Amonasro.
He is a king. He is a father. He has a country depending on him, and he has a daughter he loves.
Those loyalties do not always point in the same direction.
“And I’m the dad, so I have a way of making things a little more complicated,” Ford says with a laugh.
That little bit of humor says something about Ford’s approach. He understands the grandeur of Aida, but he also sees the people underneath all those magnificent costumes and powerful voices.
That is where the story becomes relatable.
Why Aida Still Speaks to Us
Some stories simply refuse to get old.
Ford recently talked about that with Linda Brovsky, the production’s director. They discussed why stories created generations ago can still connect with modern audiences.
His answer comes down to something simple.
The best stories are built on emotions people recognize.
He points to Romeo and Juliet. Change the names, the setting or the culture, and the basic conflict remains. People fall in love. Families disagree. Choices have consequences.
Aida works the same way.
The setting may be ancient Egypt. The costumes may be grand. Verdi’s score may fill the theater with sound.
But the emotions are familiar.
Love can make people brave. Loyalty can make people reckless. And sometimes the people we love most are the very people who complicate our lives.
Come for the Music. Stay for the Feeling.
For anyone who has never experienced opera, Ford believes Aida is a particularly welcoming place to start.
There is no shortage of spectacle.
Verdi gives audiences soaring melodies, a powerful chorus, a full orchestra and the unmistakable sound of the Triumphal March.
But Ford says the experience goes deeper than the music.
“There is a type of catharsis,” he says.
After sitting through all the emotion, the shouting, the tenderness and the soaring voices, something happens to the audience.
“Sometimes you feel like you leave a piece of yourself behind in the auditorium,” Ford explains.
That may be one of opera’s greatest gifts.
For a few hours, someone else carries the drama.
You simply sit there and let it wash over you.
Toledo Opera’s production, directed by Brovsky and conducted by Adam Turner, brings Ford together with an accomplished cast that includes soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams as Aida and tenor Brendan Boyle as Radamès. Lauren Decker portrays Amneris, while Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Mark S. Doss takes on Ramfis. Toledo Opera’s resident artists will also join the production.
The opera will be sung in Italian with English captions.
Returning as a Different Man
Ford gave a highly praised performance as Amonasro with the San Jose Symphony in June 2000. The role became one of his signature performances, one he has revisited with multiple companies throughout his career.
But Ford’s career has continued to grow far beyond a single role.
According to Toledo Opera, he has taken on increasingly challenging dramatic repertoire, most recently appearing as Le Spectre in Thomas’ Hamlet with the Cincinnati Symphony, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Cincinnati Opera and Detroit Opera, and Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Atlanta Symphony. He has also performed with major opera and concert organizations around the world, including Lincoln Center, Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus and the Metropolitan Opera.
Now he returns to Amonasro with all of that experience behind him.
A lot happens in 26 years.
You grow. You change. You experience things you could never have imagined when you first sang the role.
That is what makes returning to Aida meaningful for him now.
“There’s the relationship with this new version of me,” Ford says. “And then there’s the relationship I’ve always had with the opera itself.”
And somewhere in the space between those two things is this Toledo performance.
The music has not changed.
The story has not changed.
But Ford has.
He will walk onto the Valentine Theatre stage carrying everything that has happened since the last time he wore Amonasro’s shoes. Every city. Every performance. Every creative risk. Every lesson.
And he hopes audiences will feel that difference.
“I hope I can translate that experience to the audience,” he says.
A Creative Life Without a Box
Even while returning to one of opera’s most celebrated works, Ford is already looking toward what comes next.
His creative world has expanded into composing, producing, film and immersive experiences. He is now entering a new artistic chapter as the composer, librettist and title-role performer of House of Orfeus, which is slated for Lincoln Center in an upcoming season, with additional Young Vic dates to be announced.
It sounds like a lot.
For Ford, it sounds like Tuesday.
His philosophy is simple: When an opportunity appears, say yes and figure out the rest afterward.
“If the idea comes up, say yes and figure it out 15 minutes after you say yes,” he says.
That willingness to explore may explain why his career refuses to fit neatly into one category.
Opera is part of the story.
It just isn’t the whole story.
And perhaps that is exactly why his return to Aida feels so fitting.
The opera that first made Ford curious about the possibilities of his own voice is now bringing him to Toledo, where he will step into the role of a father, a king and a man caught between love and duty.
For Ford, it is a return.
For Toledo audiences, it is an opportunity to hear a remarkable artist bring a very old story to life with a very present-day heart.
Toledo Opera presents Aida on Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. at the historic Valentine Theatre. For tickets, the full cast and production details, visit the Toledo Opera.
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