Recommended for Grades 6-12
In this resource, you’ll:
- Learn the opera’s background and synopsis
- Meet the opera’s composer
Aïda
by Giuseppe Verdi
Aïda
by Giuseppe Verdi
A quick overview of Verdi’s 1871 historical drama.
Background
Aïda is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York’s Metropolitan Opera alone, Aïda has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886.
Aïda met with great acclaim when it opened in Cairo in 1871. The costumes and accessories for the première were designed by Auguste Mariette, who also oversaw the design and construction of the sets. Although Verdi did not attend the premiere in Cairo, he was most dissatisfied with the fact that the audience consisted of invited dignitaries, politicians and critics, but no members of the general public.
Verdi therefore considered the Italian (and European) première, held at La Scala, Milan in 1872, and a performance in which he was heavily involved at every stage, to be its real première. Aïda was likewise received with great enthusiasm at its Milan première.
The libretto does not specify a precise time period, so it is difficult to place the opera more specifically than the Old Kingdom. For the first production, Mariette went to great efforts to make the sets and costumes authentic. Considering the consistent artistic styles throughout the 3000-year history of ancient Egypt, a given production does not particularly need to choose a specific time period within the larger frame of ancient Egyptian history.
Synopsis
Act I
The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the King of Egypt. To complicate the story further, the King’s daughter Amneris is in love with Radamès, although he does not return her feelings.
Scene 1: A hall in the King’s palace; through the rear gate the pyramids and temples of Memphis are visible
Ramfis, the high priest of Egypt, tells Radamès, the young warrior, that war with the Ethiopians seems inevitable, and Radamès hopes that he will be chosen as the Egyptian commander.
Radamès dreams both of gaining victory on the battlefield and of Aida, an enslaved Ethiopian woman, with whom he is secretly in love. Aida, who is also secretly in love with Radamès, is the captured daughter of the Ethiopian King Amonasro, but her Egyptian captors are unaware of her true identity. Her father has invaded Egypt to deliver her from servitude.
Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian King, enters the hall. She too loves Radamès, but fears that his heart belongs to someone else.
Aida appears and, when Radamès sees her, Amneris notices that he looks disturbed. She suspects that Aida could be her rival, but is able to hide her jealousy and approach Aida.
The King enters, along with the High Priest, Ramfis, and the whole palace court. A messenger announces that the Ethiopians, led by King Amonasro, are marching towards Thebes. The King declares war and proclaims that Radamès is the man chosen by the goddess Isis to be the leader of the army. Upon receiving this mandate from the King, Radamès proceeds to the temple of Vulcan to take up the sacred arms.
Alone in the hall, Aida feels torn between her love for her father, her country, and Radamès.
Scene 2: Inside the Temple of Ptah
Solemn ceremonies and dances by the priestesses take place. This is followed by the installation of Radamès to the office of commander-in-chief. All present in the temple pray fervently for the victory of Egypt and protection for their warriors.
Act II
Scene 1: The chamber of Amneris
Dances and music to celebrate Radamès’ victory take place. However, Amneris is still in doubt about Radamès’ love and wonders whether Aida is in love with him. She tries to forget her doubt, entertaining her worried heart with the dance of enslaved Moorish people.
When Aida enters the chamber, Amneris asks everyone to leave. By falsely telling Aida that Radamès has died in the battle, she tricks her into professing her love for him. In grief, and shocked by the news, Aida confesses that her heart belongs to Radamès eternally.
This confession fires Amneris with rage, and she plans on taking revenge on Aida. Ignoring Aida’s pleadings, Amneris leaves her alone in the chamber.
Scene 2: The grand gate of the city of Thebes
Radamès returns victorious and the troops march into the city.
The Egyptian king decrees that on this day the triumphant Radamès may have anything he wishes. The Ethiopian captives are led onstage in chains, Amonasro among them. Aida immediately rushes to her father, who whispers to her to conceal his true identity as King of Ethiopia from the Egyptians. Amonasro deceptively proclaims to the Egyptians that the Ethiopian king (referring to himself) has been slain in battle. Aida, Amonasro, and the captured Ethiopians plead with the Egyptian King for mercy, but Ramfis and the Egyptian priests call for their death.
Claiming the reward promised by the King of Egypt, Radamès pleads with him to spare the lives of the prisoners and to set them free. The King grants Radamès’ wish, and declares that he (Radamès) will be his (the King’s) successor and will marry the King’s daughter (Amneris). At Ramfis’ suggestion to the King, Aida and Amonasro remain as hostages to ensure that the Ethiopians do not avenge their defeat.
Act III
Scene 1: On the banks of the Nile, near the Temple of Isis
Prayers are said on the eve of Amneris and Radamès’ wedding in the Temple of Isis. Outside, Aida waits to meet with Radamès as they had planned.
Amonasro appears and orders Aida to find out the location of the Egyptian army from Radamès. Aida, torn between her love for Radamès and her loyalty to her native land and to her father, reluctantly agrees. When Radamès arrives, Amonasro hides behind a rock and listens to their conversation.
Radamès affirms that he will marry Aida, and Aida convinces him to flee to the desert with her.
In order to make their escape easier, Radamès proposes that they use a safe route without any fear of discovery and reveals the location where his army has chosen to attack. Upon hearing this, Amonasro comes out of hiding and reveals his identity. Radamès realizes, to his extreme dismay, that he has unwittingly revealed a crucial military secret to the enemy. At the same time, Amneris and Ramfis leave the temple and, seeing Radamès in conference with the enemy, call for the imperial guards. Amonasro draws a dagger, intending to kill Amneris and Ramfis before the guards can hear them, but Radamès disarms him, quickly orders him to flee with Aida, and surrenders himself to the imperial guards as Aida and Amonasro run off. The guards arrest him as a traitor.
Act IV
Scene 1: A hall in the Temple of Justice. To one side is the door leading to Radamès’ prison cell
Amneris desires to save Radamès. She calls for the guard to bring him to her.
She asks Radamès to deny the accusations, but Radamès, who does not wish to live without Aida, refuses. He is relieved to know Aida is still alive and hopes she has reached her own country.
Offstage, Ramfis recites the charges against Radamès and calls on him to defend himself, but he stands mute, and is condemned to death as a traitor. Amneris, who remains onstage, protests that Radamès is innocent, and pleads with the priests to show mercy. The priests sentence him to be buried alive; Amneris weeps and curses the priests as he is taken away.
Radamès has been taken into the lower floor of the temple and sealed up in a dark vault, where he thinks that he is alone. As he hopes that Aida is in a safer place, he hears a sigh and then sees Aida. She has hidden herself in the vault in order to die with Radamès. They accept their terrible fate and bid farewell to Earth and its sorrows. Above the vault in the temple of Ptah, Amneris weeps and prays to the goddess Isis. In the vault below, Aida dies in Radamès’ arms as the priests, offstage, pray to the god Ptah.
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