‘Aida’ explores the majesty of the ancients and pairs it with the brilliance of an orchestra.
Met Opera performance of ‘Aida’ | Photo credit: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Operaĭovetailed with Egyptian theatre narratives is Guiseppe Verdi’s ‘Aida’: an opera saturated with tragedy and desire, a vision of Aida on her knees mourning a lover, of Radamès’ undying devotion to his own passions. The musical direction of this great score is in the expert hands of Sicilian conductor Antonino Fogliani, at the head of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for his first appearance in Geneva, and some of the greatest Verdian voices of the moment.A History of Egypt’s Opera ‘Aida’: the Captivating and Controversial The voice of Amneris resonates in the tomb with the final words : “Pace, pace.” Aida and Radames’ last duet touches on all these questions before they take refuge in death, as their last and only hope. More than 70 years after the (fourth) Geneva Convention and the UN Charter of Human Rights, how should we consider the relationship between the vanquished and the victorious, the conquered and their conquerors and all the forced migrations that inevitably follow? Who will speak for the victims, who count as little more than human collateral damage? What responsibility for the victor and his henchmen in the fate of the human beings their victory sends into the exile of wretched anonymity. Here is a triumphal march that does not seek to hide the true, lethal and disastrous nature of war, whatever side you are on. McDermott’s staging resonates keenly with the images of so many civilian and military funerals that crowd our newsfeeds. The triumphal march of the victorious Egyptians is a procession for the coffins of the heroes fallen in battle, the chorus are their grieving kinsfolk. Aida’s command to Radames - “Ritorna vincitor!” - comes at a price. This new perspective entails a number of bold creative choices that do not make use of the traditional staging imagery associated with Aida. A tide of sentiment runs like the Nile through Verdi’s music for the occasion, flowing from the bombastic to moments of extraordinary tenderness.īritish director Phelim McDermott offers the audience a new take on the culture of the people of Ancient Egypt in Aida, one that allows us also to question the world in which we live. Radames, obviously, only has eyes for Aida, who is torn between the love for her country and her passionate desire for the Egyptian hero. To make matters worse, Aida is in love with the Egyptian general Radames, the conqueror of Ethiopia and Amneris’ love interest. Aida, an Ethiopian princess taken as a captive slave after the defeat of her kingdom at the hands of Pharaoh’s armies, is both a war trophy and lady-in-waiting to Princess Amneris.
One of the greatest hits of opera history was born : almost everybody can whistle Aida’s triumphal march.Īida takes place in a very recognizable but completely unhistoric Ancient Egypt the opera says more about the relationship between Egypt and Europe at the end of the 19th century than of the Kingdom of the Pharaohs. That year, the viceroy of - nominally Ottoman - Egypt made a point of building a grand opera house in Cairo and commissioned Verdi for a new work with an Egyptian theme for its opening. His commitment to this cause made him a living legend, much like Garibaldi, and other countries took their inspiration from the slogan “Viva VERDI” to forge their nationhood. In 1869, Italy is on the brink of unification after several decades of bloody conflict in for territorial hegemony as much as for the idea of a homeland, to which Giuseppe Verdi had dedicted his talent and inspiration.
0 kommentar(er)
