OPERA AIDA

January 12th – 15th & 17-18th at 8pm
Main Hall, Cairo Opera House Aida 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. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in
Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini.
Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera for performance in January 1871, but the premiere was delayed because of the Franco-Prussian War. 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.
The opera is about Aida, an Ethiopian princess, who is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radames is loved by the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris, although he does not return
her feelings. It is characterized by Verdi’s use of exotic color
in harmony, and instrumentation. Verdi has brilliantly used the offstage singing to deepen the dramatic moments with augmenting the ritual atmosphere and the suggestion of multiple spaces.