“Aida” is one of my favorite operas. I love the italian opera ( By the way every time I speak of the ‘italian opera” I recall the scene in “Some like it hot” movie where the club “Friends of the Italian Opera” are brutal mafiosi). Anyway I love the italian opera and I adore Verdi. So I am more than pleased to read that there is going to be a performance at the ancient theater of Hrodou Attikou in the heart of Athens. It is a co-production of National Opera of Greece, the Chor of Hrodou Attikou and the Arena di Verona.
I’d love to go there and enjoy the aries of the Aida under the stars of a warm July night – As the Prices are from €130 to €48 I might go around to find a “sponsor” thought or even create my own club “Friends of the Aida Opera” accepting sponsorships and donations….
How the Opera was created
Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, had built a grand opera-house at Cairo, and, thinking to emulate Western potentates as an art patron, he commissioned Verdi to write an opera expressly for him. It was to be an opera, “if not of a national character, at least of a local nature, and to a certain extent of a patriotic colour.” When Verdi accepted the commission, he asked a suggestion for a subject. In reply he received a sketch prepared by Mariette Bey, the great French Egyptologist, based on “historical and archaeological details of very powerful and very novel character.” It was only a sketch, but Verdi was impressed by the grandeur of its general design, and by the conception of the judgment scene, to which we owe the strange and powerfully dramatic tableau which forms the denouement. The sketch was handed to M. Du Locle, who prepared the libretto as it now stands; though he declared that Verdi himself had taken a large share in the work, and that the idea of the last Act, with its two stages one above the other, belonged especially to him. The scene is at Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt, and at Thebes, at “the time of the Pharoahs” — rather an indefinite date.
PLOT
“It seems to me that art looked at in this way is no longer art, but a trade, a party of pleasure, a hunt, anything that can be run after, to which it is desired to give, if not success, at least notoriety at any price… I always call to mind with joy the early days of my career, the time when, with hardly a friend, with no one to talk about me, without preparation, without influence of any sort, I presented myself before the public with my works, and very happy if I could succeed in producing some slight favourable impression. Now what a piece of work about an opera!!! This is deplorable, deeply deplorable.”
It is to the critic to whom this was addressed that we owe the essential facts about the Cairo performance. He tells that the curiosity, the madness of the Egyptian public to hear “Aida” were such that all the seats were bought up a fortnight before, and at the last moment speculators “sold boxes and stalls for their weight in gold.” The spacious theatre, crowded from top to bottom, “blazed with fantastic dresses and showy uniforms, and the curtain rose on a drama which gave a glimpse to the Arabs, Copts, and Franks present of the life and religion, the loves and the hates of ancient Pharaonic times.” When it was all over, not a single voice was heard to dissent against the universal verdict of success.
“Aida” was represented at Milan soon after its production at Cairo, and there also its reception was brilliant and spontaneous. The opera rapidly made the tour of Italy and excited general enthusiasm. Only one protest is recorded, and it was so novel that it must be mentioned. A certain person named Bertoni went from a neighbouring village to hear the opera. His outing, including supper, cost him 15 francs 19 centimes. He happened not to like “Aida.” However, next day, hearing it praised on all hands, he resolved to give it another trial. This time he spent 20 francs, and was no better pleased. Full of wrath, he wrote to Verdi telling him the opera was a failure, and asking him for a return of 35 francs 19 centimes, which sum, he alleged, he had wasted in going to hear it. Verdi was not offended; in fact, he sided with the aggrieved one. Taking a pen in hand, he authorised his publisher to send Bertoni 31 francs 50 centimes, adding: “It is not quite so much as the gentleman demands, but then could have had his supper at home.” The story may not be true, but, as a witty Frenchman once said of a similar tale, “Si non e Verdi, e ben Trovatore
ACT 2. — This Act opens in a room in the palace of Amneris. Here Aida confesses her love for Radames. A violent scene of jealousy follows, interrupted by the triumphal return of Radames after a victory over the unfortunate Aida’s father, who appears among a group of prisoners paraded in a procession. The Act ends with the King’s unexpectedly giving his daughter Amneris to Radames, as a reward for his success, much to the distress of Radames, who wished for Aida.
ACT 3. — Here we have Amonasro begging his daughter to steal from her lover, Radames, the secret of his military plans against the Ethiopians, who have again risen in rebellion. Aida promises, hoping to fly to her own land with her father and her lover. She obtains the secret from Radames, who is at once surprised and denounced by Amneris for his indiscretion.
ACT 4. — Amneris would now be revenged on Radames. To make a last trial of his affection, she orders the guards to bring him to her presence. She then offers to secure his pardon by the King if he will accept her love. Radames refuses, not caring to have life without Aida. He is therefore sentenced to be buried alive in a vault beneath the temple. Aida voluntarily joins him; and the curtain falls on their lamentations, and the expression of their hopes of meeting in a better world.
Thanks for the interesting post! May I ask where you get your sources from?