Aida, G. Verdi | Opera

Description

If it weren't for Otello and Falstaff, Aida should have been Verdi's last score. The high priest of Italian opera had this idea in mind when he received the commission from Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, for the work that was to inaugurate the Suez Canal (which never happened) and which, after many twists and turns, premiered in Cairo on Christmas Eve of 1871. Since then, Aida has presented challenges. Each new production must strive to find the ideal balance: too many elephants on stage—the pharaonic scale—can end up disrupting the delicate emotional narrative.

In essence, this last Verdi is the same as always: once again the conflict between privacy and public life, once again a love story torn between duty and desire, established power as the source of unhappiness... Only this time in a colossal, and, as we shall see, overwhelming setting. Pure decoration? Not exactly. The triumphal march, the exotic dances, the priests' choirs... these aren't the essential elements, but they serve their purpose. In Verdi's operas, every element has a dramatic meaning, and everything adds up if it manages to move the audience.
One of the most celebrated titles in the repertoire, and at the same time one of the Italian master's most complex creations, returns to the Teatro de la Maestranza, where it has been absent since 2013. Paco Azorín is tasked with taking on the challenge of staging this ambiguous and fascinating tale, an intimate story of emotions disguised as a grand spectacle.