What is more spectacular than watching Verdi's Aida in front of the Pyramids at Giza? The Cairo Opera House gives performances of Verdi's opera, with the triumphal march being one of the most lavish things you have ever seen.
The famous tale of Aida remains one of Guiseppe Verdi's best-loved operas, a tragic tale of love featuring an Egyptian captain, Pharoah's daughter and an Ethiopian slave girl, Aida.
The story was inspired by the eminent French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, whom the Khedive later appointed to supervise its sets and costumes. Camille du Locle, Director of Theatre de l'Opera Comique in Paris, took Mariette's draft of the story in French and conveyed it to Verdi.
Verdi wrote AIDA in four months but its premiere had to be delayed. Mariette, together with all the sets and costumes, were unable to arrive from France in time for the inauguration due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, and it was Verdi's Rigoletto that was performed for the inauguration of the Opera House on 1 November 1871. However, at its world premiere in Cairo on 24 December 1871, AIDA was a sensational success. It received a triumphant reception and has remained a favourite in Cairo and worldwide.
Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1910) was one of the greatest composers of the nineteenth century. He achieved considerable financial success in his lifetime, having composed 31 operas, the most famous of which are AIDA, OTELLO, LA TRAVIATA, FALSTAFF, and IL TROVATORE.