Download Aida: Classroom Guide - Michigan Opera Theatre

Michael Yashinsky, DOH Communications Department
Student guide to Giuseppe Verdi’s grand opera
AÏDA
at the Detroit Opera House, May 11-May 19, 2013
QUICK INFO
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Opera in four acts
Set in ancient Egypt, in the cities of Memphis and Thebes
Premiered December 24th, 1871 at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo, Egypt
Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901)—his 26th opera
Libretto (words) by Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824-1893)
Based on an outline by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, sent to and further
developed by Verdi’s friend, French theatre director Camille du Locle
Sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage
Running time about 3½ hrs
ME N I N HAT S:
The com poser,
Gius eppe Ver di
(left ) an d hi s
libr ettist, Antoni o
Ghi slanz oni
THE STORY
(Adapted from Naxos Records:)
Egypt is at war with Ethiopia. The Ethiopian king's daughter, Aïda, has been captured
and is now a slave in the service of the Pharoah's daughter, Amneris. Radamès loves Aïda
but is loved by Amneris. He is appointed general of the Egyptian army and in the second
act returns in triumph over the Ethiopians (Aïda’s people). In honor of Radamès’ victory,
the Pharaoh awards him the unwelcome hand of Amneris in marriage. Aïda's father,
Amonasro, meanwhile, has been taken prisoner, his life spared at the intercession of
Radamès. In the third act, Amonasro induces his daughter to help him discover the
location of the Egyptian army, which she does in a meeting with Radamès. Their
conversation is overheard by Amonasro. Aïda and Amonasro take flight but the apparent
treachery of Radamès is now revealed and he is condemned to death, to the dismay of
Amneris. In the final scene, he is sealed away, alive, in a stone tomb, where he is surprised
to find Aïda, who has hidden there so that she may die with her beloved. As they sing a
tragic love duet, Amneris, above the tomb, prays for peace for her beloved Radamès.
THE CAST OF CHARACT ERS ( AND SINGERS)
King of Egypt
• American baritone Andrew Gray
Amneris, his daughter
• Georgian mezzo soprano Anita
Rachvelishvili (May 11, 15, 18)
• Serbian mezzo soprano Milijana Nikolic
(May 17, 19)
Amonasro, King of Ethiopia
• American baritone Gordon Hawkins
Aïda, his daughter
• American soprano Latonia Moore (May 11,
15, 18)
• Canadian soprano Yannick Muriel Noah
(May 17, 19)
Radamès, an Egyptian general
Gold-pai nted dan cer s fr om Detr oit’s
• Italian tenor Riccardo Massi (May 11, 15, 18)
own Ei senh ower Dan ce Ens em ble
• Australian tenor Rosario La Spina (May 17, 19) perfor m in Aï da at th e Detr oit O pera
Ramfis, the Egyptian high priest
Hous e (ph otogra ph by J ohn Grigaiti s).
• American bass Peter Volpe
High Priestess of Egypt
• American soprano Angela Theis
The production at the Detroit Opera House will feature the Michigan Opera Theatre
Orchestra and Chorus, led by American conductor Steven Mercurio, with staging by
American director Bliss Hebert.
VERDI AFTER AÏDA
What is a brilliant and beloved composer to do after attaining such a career-peaking
success as Aïda? In Verdi’s case, the answer was: take a good long break. In the sixteen
years after the premiere of Aïda, hailed as one of the finest and most magnificent Italian
operas of all time, Verdi did not write
any new operas. Why? A few
possible reasons:
Villa Verdi , th e com poser’s h ome on his rusti c
estat e in Sant’ Agata , less tha n tw o miles fr om
the village of his birt h.
1. He was discouraged by
France’s defeat in the FrancoPrussian War (1870-1871), and
upset that Italy did not enter
and assist France.
2. Richard Wagner, the great
German composer, was
innovating a new kind of
operatic style—not broken into standalone arias, duets, and choruses, but rather
running in a single musical flow throughout the drama—and Verdi felt his more
neatly divided style to be antiquated and not popular any longer.
3. He had a comfortable life away from music, which he enjoyed in his time off.
Verdi owned a large farm in northern Italy where he spent many happy and quiet
summers, managing a large and profitable estate.
But Aïda would not be his last opera. When he was presented by Italian poet Arrigo
Boito with a complex and dramatic libretto based on Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello,
Verdi could not resist setting it to music. In his 74th year, Verdi’s second-to-last opera,
Otello, premiered, followed by Falstaff (also based on Shakespeare) in his 80th year. Both
are thought to be among his greatest artistic triumphs.
HOMESI CKNES S IN SONG
One of Aïda’s greatest pieces is the aria that Aïda sings in Act III, O patria mia [O, my
fatherland]. Standing beside the Nile, her heart is divided between the romantic love that
she feels for the Egyptian Radamès, and the patriotic love that she feels for her homeland
of Ethiopia, which she fears she shall never see again. Read the Italian lyrics along with
their translation below, and note the depths of Aïda’s longing and heartsickness. If you
were to write an ode to your own homeland, what features would you draw out as being
particularly special to you? (Aïda makes reference mostly to natural phenomena.)
(Translation by Rebecca Burstein, from aria-database.com:)
Oh patria mia, mai più ti rivedrò!
O my country, never more will I see you!
Mai più! mai più ti rivedrò!
Never more, never more will I see you!
O cieli azzurri o dolci aure native
O blue skies, o sweet native breezes,
Dove sereno il mio mattin brillò
where the morning of my life shone peacefully,
O verdi colli o profumate rive
O patria mia, mai più ti rivedrò!
Mai più! no, no, mai più, mai più!
O fresche valli, o queto asil beato
Che un di promesso dall'amor mi fu
o green hills, o fragrant river-banks,
o my country, never more will I see you!
Never more! no, no, never more!
O cool valleys, o calm refuge
which one day was promised to me by love,
Or che d'amore il sogno è dileguato now that the dream of love has vanished,
O patria mia, non ti vedrò mai più. o my country, I will see you never more.
Oh patria mia, mai più ti rivedrò!
O my country, never more will I see you!
Lat onia M oore
sings O patria mia
onsta ge at th e
Detr oit O per a
Hous e
(ph ot og raph by
John Grigaiti s).