Oscillating between tempting dreams and the constant, intrusive demands of a strident reality, those involved can only be torn apart, pulled asunder by something that will eventually undo them, crushing and annihilating them. The fact that all three figures are unwilling to follow these pre-ordained paths provides the true motor of the action. Aida, Radamès and Amneris are torn between their fantasies - dreams of an alternative life - and the reality of a society that will use any means to enforce the role models it allocates to them. In this, the close-up focus on the three main figures will assume a primary role. Five years later she now has the opportunity to re-explorethe opera, creating a dialogue with themes and motifs in her own work. It was with Aida that Shirin Neshat made her debut as opera director at the 2017 Salzburg Festival. The opera premiered in Cairo in December 1871. Now grown somewhat weary, he longed to retire, but as recorded in his letters, his creative urges were sparked anew when he laid hands on the story of Aida. When Verdi began work on Aida in 1870 he was 56 years old and had composed 24 operas. Although the very first opera to be performed there was Rigoletto, Ismail Pasha had set his heart on commissioning a completely new work from Giuseppe Verdi, whom he regarded as the greatest opera composer in the world: a unique and spectacular piece to be based on Egyptian sources. Among his greatest achievements in this field was the construction of an opera house, whose inauguration in 1869 also celebrated the opening of the Suez Canal. From 1863 Egypt was ruled as part of the Ottoman Empire by the khedive Ismail Pasha, who sought to make Cairo the ‘Paris of the East’. At the same time, the discoveries made by Egyptologists piqued European curiosity and appetite for the exotic. In the 19th century the Orient held a special fascination for Europeans, whose colonial ambitions gained them increasing influence in the Arab world. All the composer can offer the pair of lovers is the vague hope of solace in a shared utopian realm beyond this world. Now begins a desperate attempt at rescue that can only end in disaster for all concerned. To make matters worse, the Egyptian king makes Radamès a highly unwelcome gift, designating him his successor and giving him the hand in marriage of his daughter Amneris. Aida is devastated and forced to watch the suffering of those nearest to her. He wins the campaign, takes Amonasro prisoner and returns in triumph. Radamès is rapidly promoted to general and goes to war against Ethiopia. The opera begins in this state of emotional imbalance between the three protagonists. Although no one is as yet aware of the fact, Aida is the daughter of the Ethiopian king Amonasro and fears for the lives of all her loved ones. Princess Amneris is also in love with Radamès, but already suspects that he is more interested in Aida than in her. First and foremost of his secret beloved, the Ethiopian slave Aida, who is living at the royal court of Egypt and whom he wants to make his own.
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