Existing comment:
Verdi's Aida
Commissioned by Khedive Isma'il (1830–1895) for presentation at his recently opened Khedivial Opera House in Cairo, Aida premiered there on December 24, 1871. Constructing an opera house in Cairo and inaugurating it with performances of works by European composers reflected the Khedive's modernizing and Westernizing philosophy. (Contrary to popular belief, Aida was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal; however, the opera house was built in celebration of the canal and dedicated in 1869.) Aida is the story of the love between the Ethiopian princess Aida and her Egyptian warrior captor, Radamès, which is complicated by the presence of Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh (ruler), who loves Radamès but whose love is not reciprocated. |