Aida
Aida , is an opera in four acts by
Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based
on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Aida
was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24
December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini.
Origin
Isma´il Pasha, Khedive of
Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera for performance in
January 1871, paying him 150,000 francs,[1] but the premiere was
delayed because of the Franco-Prussian War. One scholar has argued
that the scenario was written by Temistocle Solera and not by
Auguste Mariette.[2]Metastasio´s libretto Nitteti (1756) was a
major source of the plot.[3] Contrary to popular belief, the opera
was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869,
nor that of the Khedivial Opera House (which opened with Verdi´s
Rigoletto) in the same year. (Verdi had been asked to compose an
ode for the opening of the Canal, but declined on the grounds that
he did not write "occasional pieces
Performance
history
Cairo premiere and initial
success in Italy
Verdi originally chose not
to write an overture for the opera, but merely a brief orchestral
prelude. He then composed an overture of the "potpourri" variety to
replace the original prelude. However, in the end he decided not to
have the overture performed because of its – his own words
– "pretentious insipidity". This overture, not normally used
today, was given a rare broadcast performance by Arturo Toscanini
and the NBC Symphony Orchestra on 30 March 1940, which was never
commercially issued.
Aida met with great acclaim
when it finally opened in Cairo on 24 December 1871. The costumes,
accessories and stages for the premiere were designed by Auguste
Mariette. 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. He therefore considered the Italian (and European)
premiere, held at La Scala, Milan on 8 February 1872, and in which
he was heavily involved at every stage, to be its real
premiere.
Verdi had also written the
role of Aida for the voice of Teresa Stolz, who sang it for the
first time at the Milan premiere. Verdi had asked her fiancé,
Angelo Mariani, to conduct the Cairo premiere, but he declined, so
Giovanni Bottesini filled the gap. The Milan Amneris, Maria
Waldmann, was his favourite in the role and she repeated it a
number of times at his request.
Aida was received with great
enthusiasm at its Milan premiere. The opera was soon mounted at
major opera houses throughout Italy, including the Teatro Regio di
Parma (20 April 1872), the Teatro di San Carlo (30 March 1873), La
Fenice (11 June 1873), the Teatro Regio di Torino (26 December
1874), the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (30 September 1877, with
Giuseppina Pasqua as Amneris and Franco Novara as the King), and
the Teatro Costanzi (8 October 1881, with Theresia Singer as Aida
and Giulia Novelli as Amneris) among others.
FROM
WIKIPEDIA
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