Aida

The opera has mesmerised music lovers with its lavish scenery and exquisite costumes, magnificent collective scenes, as well as intimate personal drama. Aida has to decide between being loyal to her country and dedicating herself to a man who is one of the oppressors of her nation. The dilemma of choosing between love and duty is also faced by Radames, who ultimately betrays his homeland because of Aida.

Verdi wrote Aida on the basis of the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette’s scenario, conceived to commission from Ismail Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, for the inauguration of the Suez Canal. Impressed by the plot, Verdi travelled to Egypt so as to get a feel for the country and its culture. After returning to Italy, he had Ancient Egyptian “Aida trumpets” made in Milan which he would employ in the famous Triumphal March.

The current State Opera production premiered in 1994. A genuine Egyptian colour was afforded to the sets by the renowned Egyptian painter Hafíz Abdel Farghali, whose work uniquely projects Ancient Pharaoh-ruled Egypt’s heritage on the modern-time civilisation.