Robert Carsen’s ‘transformative’ (Financial Times) production situates Verdi’s large-scale political drama in a contemporary world, framing power struggles and toxic jealousies in a modern, totalitarian state. Daniel Oren conducts Verdi’s monumental score, with Anna Pirozzi as Aida, Riccardo Massi and Jorge de León as Radames, Raehann Bryce-Davis as Amneris and Amartuvshin Enkhbat as Amonasro.

An Egyptian Opera?

‘Cyprus; Spain; Jerusalem; Paris; the banks of the Euphrates; Mantua. The operas of Giuseppe Verdi are set in a variety of diverse locales, depicted in some detail in the set descriptions contained in the librettos,’ writes Francesco Izzo, in his Aida programme article. While many contemporary iterations of Aida have seen directors stage Verdi’s story of love and war outside of a more outdated ‘Egyptian’ (read: elephants, pyramids) landscape, Izzo acknowledges that there can still be ‘little doubt that when the curtain rises at the beginning of the opera a sizeable majority of the audience will be expecting to find some rendition of the set description found in the libretto: “A hall in the King’s palace in Memphis …A large gate at the back, through which the temples and palaces of Memphis and the pyramids are visible.”’  

A stark spectacle

The appeal, surely, is spectacle, the grand columns of said temples and palaces and colourful dance and chorus scenes the perfect recipe for a crowd-pleaser. But strip this away – as in Robert Carsen’s stark and deliberately cold staging – and Aida, at its core, is still a rich and deeply immersive story. Much like Verdi’s other popular operas (think Don Carlo, La forza del destino and Rigoletto), Aida captivates audiences with its tragic love story and with its poignant exploration of the unbreakable bond between father and daughter. It is these enduring themes, in the end, that allow us to think of Aida not as an ‘Egyptian’ opera, but a human one.