


However, in the end he decided not to have the overture performed because of its-his own words-"pretentious silliness". He then composed an overture of the " potpourri" variety to replace the original prelude.
Giuseppe verdi aida full#
Verdi originally chose to write a brief orchestral prelude instead of a full overture for the opera. Radamès (Giuseppe Fancelli) and Aida ( Teresa Stolz) in act 4, scene 2 of the 1872 La Scala European première (drawing by Leopoldo Metlicovitz) Performance history Cairo premiere and initial success in Italy The first opera performed at the Khedivial Opera House, Aida eventually premiered in Cairo on Christmas Eve of 1871. īecause the scenery and costumes were stuck in the French capital during the Siege of Paris (1870–71) of the ongoing Franco-Prussian War, the premiere was delayed and Verdi's Rigoletto was performed instead. Eventually, Verdi agreed to compose an opera based on that story, for 150,000 francs. Khedive Pasha referred Mariette to theatre manager Camille du Locle, who sent Mariette's story idea to Verdi. However, Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist, proposed to Khedive Pasha a plot for a celebratory opera set in ancient Egypt. Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, but Verdi declined. Elements of the opera's genesis and sources Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. 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, Aida has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Directed by Toscanini with Herva Nelli in the role of Aida and Richard Tucker in the role of Radamès, it was broadcast on television on the NBC television network.Aida (or Aïda, Italian: ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Amneris's interpreter in Milan, Maria Waldmann, was her favorite for the role.Ī complete version of the opera was performed in New York in 1949. The composer had asked the singer's fiance, Angelo Mariani, to direct the Cairo premiere, but he refused, so the choice fell on Giovanni Bottesini. Verdi had also written the role of Aida for the voice of Teresa Stolz, who sang it for the first time at the premiere in Milan. He therefore considered the first Italian (and European) representation, held at La Scala in Milan on 8 February 1872, as the real premiere. Verdi did not take part in the Aida premiere, he was very dissatisfied with the fact that the public was composed exclusively of politicians and invited critics. Verdi achieved an astonishing effect with the use, in the Triumphal March, of long trumpets, similar to the Egyptian trumpets or the Roman buccine purposely reconstructed for the occasion. When the premiere finally took place, it achieved enormous success and to this day it continues to be one of the most famous operas. The musician agreed to write Aida when he was told that it would inaugurate a prestigious theater in Cairo. At first, in 1860, Verdi declined to compose the hymn that had been commissioned to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal: he refused the 80,000 francs that had been offered to him by replying that he would never write music for occasions. Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi.
