Due to the illness of Fabio Sartori, the role of Radames in the Aida performances of the Budapest Spring Festival 10 and 14 April) is sung by Johan Botha.
The South African tenor debuted in his homeland in Weber's Der Freischütz in 1989. The first international recognition came with the role of Pinkerton in a Paris production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly in 1993. Since then he has been a guest singer at such renowned opera stages as the New York Metropolitan, La Scala in Milan, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Royal Opera London and the Opera Australia. His reperetoire includes roles primarily by Puccini, Wagner and Verdi, but he has also established himself as a concert and oratorio singer.