(Verdi had been asked to compose an ode for the opening of the Canal, but declined on the grounds that he did not write "occasional pieces". Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, nor that of the Khedivial Opera House (which opened with Verdi's Rigoletto) in the same year. Metastasio's libretto Nitteti (1756) was a major source of the plot. One scholar has argued that the scenario was written by Temistocle Solera and not by Auguste Mariette. Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera for performance in January 1871, paying him 150,000 francs, but the premiere was delayed because of the Franco-Prussian War. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. You want to attend to the performance Aida in Paris, Berlin, Roma, Sydney Music-Opera offers a great choice of classical performances around the world. It was a resounding success - the audience called him back to the stage thirty-two times with thunderous applause! He was gifted an ivory baton, and a star made of diamonds with the name of Aida spelled out in rubies.Īida fast became a staple of the operatic canon, and today is often the subject of lavish outdoor performances.Aida (pronounced ) sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Verdi did not attend the Cairo première, but directed the Milan performance. But two years later, Aida premièred in Cairo in December, 1871 and in Milan a few months later. on the whole, via foreign alternatives such as Aida, whose premiere in Cairo in 1871 was surrounded by all. With a libretto in hand, Verdi composed the music in just four months.Īs it turned out, delays beyond Verdi’s control meant that Aida was not ready for the opening of the new house - Rigoletto was performed instead. He hired a journalist, Antonio Ghislanzoni, to translate it into Italian. Mariette would end up having a significant role in Aida - overseeing designs for sets and costumes.ĭu Locle composed a French libretto, but Verdi, still burned from the difficult experience of writing Don Carlos for the Paris Opera, decided it should be in Italian. Verdi was intrigued, both by the story itself and the hand that wrote it. As he cast around for a subject, French librettist Camille du Locle suggested a story set in Ancient Egypt, sending the veteran composer a synopsis written by the Egyptologist August Mariette Bey. In the darkness, the King’s plan, Aida’s conflicted heart and Radamès’ steadfast love collide in a devastating finale.Īccustomed to receiving commissions from Paris and Milan, Verdi must have found it refreshing to receive a request from the Khedive of Egypt for a new opera to celebrate the opening of the Khedivial Opera House. On the banks of the Nile, the lovers arrange to meet one last time.īut the conquered Ethiopian King has a plan to save his country. Just when all seems lost, the King of Egypt deals another blow: promising the triumphant Radamès his daughter Amneris’ hand. Through victory in battle, Radamès hopes to win the hand of the beautiful slave girl Aida - handmaiden to the princess Amneris, and secretly, an Ethiopian princess.Īida is torn between her love for the Egyptian hero and her despair for the country he must march against - her homeland.Īnd the Princess Amneris, who also desires Radamès, is beginning to have suspicions that her hero might prefer her slave…Īs Radamès returns to Egypt in triumph, Aida is greeted with a terrible sight - her father Amonasro, the King of Ethiopia, is among the slaves. A rebellion is brewing on Egypt’s borders, and for both the oppressor and the oppressed, loves and loyalties are about to be tested.Įgypt needs a hero to lead their army, and the High Priest has made his choice.
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