Since it was first performed in Cairo in 1871 _Aida_ has become a staple of
the opera canon, performed in opera houses all over the world. It has been
performed at ENO sixteen times in five different productions, last seen in
2017.

_Aida_ is opera on its largest scale, and an opportunity to present a
theatrical spectacle. Scored for full orchestra of over forty players, on-
stage brass instruments, an expanded chorus of around eighty singers and eight
principal roles, the music depicts the military might of the Egyptian nation.
Verdi repeatedly uses the tone of the brass instruments – trumpets, trombones,
tubas, euphoniums – to create a powerful sound world which emphasises the
pride of the Egyptian army. This is demonstrated to full effect in the grand
triumphal march ‘Glory to Egypt mighty land’ written for the chorus and brass
orchestra, where the army return victorious from the war against Ethiopian
troupes and parade their captive slaves.

[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/8HaGe8BGy44?feature=oembed)

Video

As in many of Verdi’s operas, different types of orchestral music also serves
to bring to life the power of hierarchy and religious authority. In Act 2, an
offstage female chorus of priestesses worship the Egyptian God of craftsmen,
Phta in the number ‘O Mighty Phta’, their veiled presence giving an
otherworldly mystery and solemnity to the ritualistic processes that govern
the everyday lives of the people. In contrast, a deep sonorous bass voice is
used to convey the brutality of the authoritarian priests symbolised in the
character of Ramfis, the chief priest. Verdi’s sound world in these moments
aptly conveys the bombastic public world of the Egyptian army and court, where
personal feelings seem to have no power or place.

Yet the story of _Aida_ is also very private tale of disappointed love and
betrayal, with two women, Aida and Amneris, loving the same man, Radames. In
contrast to the public scenes of war and celebration, Verdi focuses the
audience’s attention on the personal heartbreak for both these women in
moments where they sing intimate music that highlights their inner torment.
Aida’s aria, “Oh dearest country never to see my home” which she longs for her
lost homeland as she is enslaved in Egypt, is a prime example which
demonstrates Verdi’s skills for creating such tender moments.

Aida and Radames express their love for one another another private musical
form – the duet. A typical romantic opera form, the musical structure and
language of a duet is meant to showcase the unity between two voices and their
characters. In Act III, though, Verdi subverts the intimacy of the duet
between Aida and Radames by using it to catalyse the moment of treachery when
Aida is forced by her father to manipulate Radames into revealing his Egyptian
battle plan. Instead of representing the true union of their love, this duet
thus reminds us of the forces which conspire to break apart the lovers and
will lead to Aida’s inevitable betrayal of Radames.

## Music score of Aida and Radames duet.