Aida (Arabic عايدة [ˈʕaːjdah]) from a female noun meaning guest or returnee) is a four-act opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Antonio Ghislanzoni, adapting it from a script by the French expert on ancient Egypt, Auguste Mariette.[1] The opera was premiered on December 24, 1871, at the Khedive Opera House in Cairo, Egypt, under the direction of the conductor Giovanni Bottesini. This work is an opera work that is constantly in the repertoire of world opera houses and attracts popular audiences. It ranked 16th among the top 20 opera works staged in the recently prepared North American opera houses.[2] There are many audio and video recordings.
Egyptian Khedive İsmail Pasha paid 150,000 French Francs and ordered Verdi to prepare this work for its first staging in January 1871.[3] This work is not, as some people believe, a tribute to the newly built Suez Canal opening in 1860. It is a work prepared for the opening of the Khedive Opera House, which was established in Cairo and opened in the same year. However, due to the Franco-Prussian War that continued between July 1870 and May 1871, costumes and stage equipment could not be brought from Paris. Therefore, the premiere was postponed, but instead of Verdi’s another opera, Rigoletto, was staged, and the first opera staged at the Khedivek Opera House was Rigoletto, not Aida.
In his original work, Verdi composed a short prelude that was played instead of an overture. However, he later modified this original orchestral prelude and prepared a new overture that included popular melodies from opera.
Aida was finally premiered in Cairo on December 24, 1871, and was well received by the audience for its initial staging. But Verdi refrained from going to this first representation. All the spectators came to this first performance by special invitation, tickets were not sold to the common public, and Verdi wanted to satisfy the ordinary opera audience, not this kind of audience. For this reason, Verdi personally supported the production and staging of the opera for the first performance of his work in Europe at the La Scala Opera-house in Milan in February 1872, and paid attention and care to this staging as if it were a premiere.
