Aida - Verdi | Arena di Verona (1981)

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Antonio Ghislanzoni
Premiere: 24 December 1871, Cairo (Opera House)
Language: Italian
Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/verdi/aida/synopsis/
Translation: English Subtitles

Cast & Characters:
Maria Chiara as Aida
Nicola Martinucci as Radames
Fiorenza Cossotto as Amneris
Giuseppe Scandola as Amonasro)
Alfredo Zanazzo as King of Egypt
Carlo Zardo as Ramfis

Chorus, orchestra and ballet of "Arena di Verona" theatre.
Conductor Anton Guadagno

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. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world.

Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Metastasio's libretto Nitteti (1756) was a major source of the plot. 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. (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".)

Aida met with great acclaim when it finally opened in Cairo on 24 December 1871. Although Verdi did not attend the premiere in Cairo, he was most dissatisfied with the fact that the audience consisted of invited dignitaries, politicians and critics, but no members of the general public. He therefore considered the Italian première, held at La Scala, Milan on 8 February 1872, and a performance in which he was heavily involved at every stage, to be its real première. Verdi had also written the role of Aida for the voice of Teresa Stolz, who sang it for the first time at the Milan première. Aida was received with great enthusiasm at its Milan première. The opera was soon mounted at major opera houses throughout Italy.