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 • 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

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.

ME N I N HAT S: The com poser, Gius eppe Ver di

(left ) an d hi s l ibr ett ist , Antoni o

Ghi slanzoni

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

• Italian tenor Riccardo Massi (May 11, 15, 18) • Australian tenor Rosario La Spina (May 17, 19)

Ramfis, the Egyptian high priest • 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:

1. He was discouraged by France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian 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

Vil la 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 vi l lage of his birt h.

Gold-pai nted dan cer s fr om Detr oit ’ s own Ei senh ower Dan ce Ens em ble

perfor m in Aï da at th e Detr oit O pera Hous e (ph otogra ph by J ohn Grigait i s) .

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. HOMESICKNESS 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 green hills, o fragrant river-banks, O patria mia, mai più ti rivedrò! o my country, never more will I see you! Mai più! no, no, mai più, mai più! Never more! no, no, never more! O fresche valli, o queto asil beato O cool valleys, o calm refuge Che un di promesso dall'amor mi fu 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 Grigait i s) .