The Fondazione Arena di Verona has postponed its upcoming “Aida” in Adelaide, Verona, which was being produced by TEG Live.

Limelight is reporting that the production, which was scheduled for Feb. 5 and 6, was postponed “due to unforeseen challenges related to the international transport of artistic assets”, which have upended plans to ship the production’s vast inventory of sets, costumes, and equipment from Italy to Australia.

According to the report, the containers were due to arrive in early January to allow for customs clearance and bump-in before rehearsals. However, said the company had been advised that the freight would miss its designated shipping window.

In a statement, Cecilia Gasdia, General Manager of Fondazione Arena di Verona, said the company was “very sorry” to postpone the event given the anticipation surrounding the landmark Australian presentation and noted that the postponement would allow time to develop ‘parallel initiatives’ and deepen engagement with audiences across Australasia ahead of the rescheduled Adelaide season.

TEG Live’s Global Head of Touring, Tim McGregor, said, “This is the very first time the production has ever left Verona and has required substantial preparatory work to allow these items to be approved for export from Italy…Unfortunately, the delays we have endured combined with ongoing disruptions to global shipping have resulted in us now being advised that we will miss our designated window to freight the 28 containers in time for the shows in Adelaide.”

TEG Live announced that the performances will now happen in 2027 and that Opera Australia artistic director Lyndon Terracini will take on the role of executive director of the project.

The production was set to star Angel Blue (Aida), Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès) and Elīna Garanča (Amneris) on the first evening, and the second performance was to have included María José Siri, Brian Jagde, and Agnieszka Rehlis. Nicola Luisotti was set to conduct both performances.

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