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Aida

Published on Dec 17, 2015

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Aida

From Opera to Broadway

Creator

Verdi.  Performed in Cairo 1871
The composer of Aida was Verdi, and it was first performed in Cairo in 1871. Verdi did not attend this performance, sadly.

Synopsis Act I

  • Set in Egypt during the reign of the pharaohs
  • Radames, a prince, falls in love with an Ethiopian slave, Aida
  • Aida is the slave of Princess Amneris, and she is in love with Radames 
  • Aida is torn between her love for Radames and her country
Act I
Egypt, during the reign of the pharaohs. At the royal palace in Memphis, the high priest Ramfis tells the warrior Radamès that Ethiopia is preparing another attack against Egypt. Radamès hopes to command his army. He is in love with Aida, the Ethiopian slave of Princess Amneris, the king’s daughter, and he believes that victory in the war would enable him to free her and marry her. But Amneris loves Radamès, and when the three meet, she jealously senses his feelings for Aida. A messenger tells the king of Egypt and the assembled priests and soldiers that the Ethiopians are advancing. The king names Radamès to lead the army, and all join in a patriotic anthem. Left alone, Aida is torn between her love for Radamès and loyalty to her native country, where her father, Amonasro, is king. She prays to the gods for mercy.

In the temple of Vulcan, the priests consecrate Radamès to the service of the god. Ramfis orders him to protect the homeland.


http://www.metopera.org/metopera/season/synopsis/aida

Synopsis Act II

  • The war is over 
  • Amneris confronts Aida about her feelings towards Radames
  • The king declares that Radames and Amneris are to be married
Act II
Ethiopia has been defeated, and Amneris waits for the triumphant return of Radamès. When Aida approaches, the princess sends away her other attendants so that she can learn her slave’s private feelings. She first pretends that Radamès has fallen in battle, then says he is still alive. Aida’s reactions leave no doubt that she loves Radamès. Amneris, certain she will be victorious over her rival, leaves for the triumphal procession.

At the city gates the king and Amneris observe the celebrations and crown Radamès with a victor’s wreath. Captured Ethiopians are led in. Among them is Amonasro, Aida’s father, who signals his daughter not to reveal his identity as king. Radamès is impressed by Amonasro’s eloquent plea for mercy and asks for the death sentence on the prisoners to be overruled and for them to be freed. The king grants his request but keeps Amonasro in custody. The king declares that as a victor’s reward, Radamès will have Amneris’s hand in marriage.


http://www.metopera.org/metopera/season/synopsis/aida

Synopsis Act III

  • Radames reveals his love to Aida
  • They decide to run away together
  • They are caught in the act
Act III
On the eve of Amneris’s wedding, Ramfis and Amneris enter a temple on the banks of the Nile to pray. Aida, who is waiting for Radamès, is lost in thoughts of her homeland. Amonasro suddenly appears. Invoking Aida’s sense of duty, he makes her agree to find out from Radamès which route the Egyptian army will take to invade Ethiopia. Amonasro hides as Radamès arrives and assures Aida of his love. They dream about their future life together, and Radamès agrees to run away with her. Aida asks him about his army’s route, and just as he reveals the secret, Amonasro emerges from his hiding place. When he realizes that Amonasro is the Ethiopian king, Radamès is horrified by what he has done. While Aida and Amonasro try to calm him, Ramfis and Amneris step out of the temple. Father and daughter are able to escape, but Radamès surrenders to the priests.

http://www.metopera.org/metopera/season/synopsis/aida

Synopsis Act IV

  • Radames is put on trial for treason
  • Radames and Aida are condemned to be buried alive
  • Amneris begs for this not to happen
  • Amneris prays for Radames soul
Act IV
Radamès awaits trial as a traitor, believing Aida to be dead. Even after he learns that she has survived, he rejects an offer by Amneris to save him if he renounces Aida. When he is brought before the priests, he refuses to answer their accusations and is condemned to be buried alive. Amneris begs for mercy, but the judges will not change their verdict. She curses the priests.
Aida has hidden in the vault to share Radamès’s fate. They express their love for the last time while Amneris, in the temple above, prays for Radamès’s soul.

http://www.metopera.org/metopera/season/synopsis/aida

Synopsis

  • Two acts
  • You tell me!

Celeste Aida

If only I were that warrior!
If only my dream might come true!
An army of brave men with me as their leader
And victory and the applause of all Memphis!
And to you, my sweet Aida,
To return crowned with laurels,
To tell you: for you I have fought,
For you I have conquered!

Heavenly Aida, divine form,
Mystical garland of light and flowers,
You are queen of my thoughts,
You are the splendour of my life.
I want to give you back your beautiful sky,
The sweet breezes of your native land,
To place a royal garland on your hair,
To raise you a throne next to the sun.

Written in the Stars

AIDA
I am here to tell you we can never meet again
Simple really, isn't it, a word or two and then
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when
You think of me or speak of me and wonder what befell
That someone you once loved so long ago so well

RADAMES
Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by
You don't have to ask me and I need not reply
Every moment of my life from now until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand

Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time

Or some god's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day

AIDA
Nothing can be altered, there is nothing to decide
No escape, no change of heart, no any place to hide

RADAMES
Oh, you are all I'll ever want, but this I am denied
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts, I wish I'd never learned

AIDA & RADAMES
What it is to be in love and have that love returned

AIDA
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time

AIDA & RADAMES
For some god's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day