Aida - Schedule, Program & Tickets

Although commissioned by the Viceroy of Egypt to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1870, the work was staged only the following year due to the Franco-Prussian war that had delayed the preparation of scenarios and costumes in France . The work responds to the stylistic features of the grand-opéra of the French tradition with a spectacular layout without however giving up an intimate and well-defined psychological description of the characters. The unusual "Egyptian subject", the solemnity of the protagonists, the archaic religiosity of the atmosphere offered Verdi the opportunity to merge tradition and renewal and to exploit the experience of Don Carlos. The popularity of Aida has certainly contributed to famous pages such as the "Triumphal March" or traditional romances like "Celeste Aida"; but its success does not lie in the ease of the musical language but in the high dramatic tension. In its solid and ample construction the score can also include dances, choirs and "local color" without compromising the overall musical discourse. What is striking is precisely the composer's ability to pass from the great collective frescoes to the solitude of the protagonists without exploiting, as a connective tissue, a sort of musical exoticism.

Subject to change.