A I D A

A tragic love story about an enslaved Ethiopian princess and an Egyptian commander.

Giuseppe Verdi’s AIDA was presented by Victoria State Opera at Carlton Football Ground, Princes Park, Melbourne, 2, 4, 6 March 1989.

PERFORMANCE CUSTUMES

Aida is one of Verdi's greatest triumphs, telling a story packed full of human drama and tragedy, with a hugely effective ending that delivers a real sting in the tail.

The story tells of an Ethiopian (Kushite) princess, Aida, that revolves around its eponymous character, an Ethiopian princess who was captured and made into a slave in Egypt. No particular period was given, although the story takes place in the Old Kingdom which was the third millennium BC, the era between the third and sixth dynasties, 2686 – 2181 B.C. The action plays out against conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt. Both sides are at war, but principal characters between both sides find that they have come together – most notably, Aida and the Egyptian military commander, Radamès, who has fallen in love with Aida.

LIVE PERFORMANCES AT AIDA (CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ‘ME’)

How can Aida fall in love with someone who is on the opposing side and vice versa? So it's that very conflict that gives the Aida opera its real edge. Love vs duty. Love vs patriotism. Love vs honour. Battles in which no happy ever after ending is guaranteed. Brimming with human passion and it seems many of its characters wear their hearts on their sleeves. Initially, Aida keeps her real identity a secret. Radamès, in turn, is adored by Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian king.

However, the feeling is not a mutual one and Amneris even suspects that this is the case. Suspecting Aida and very much the jealous woman scorned by Radamès' love for Aida, Amneris uses duplicitous to the point where she tricks the Ethiopian princess into declaring her true feelings after falsely claiming that Radamès has died in combat. After Radamès returns successful from battle and a hero, the king says that he can have anything he wishes. However, his request for the release of Aida and her father Amonasro (now hostage) is denied.

Amonasro is also a very much passionate man, and in this case, that passion is fuelled by a love of his country. He cannot bear the thought of his daughter falling for an Egyptian warrior and in the third act, he denounces his daughter, casting her off as a slave of the pharaohs.

Instead, the Egyptian king proclaims that Radamès will be wed to his daughter and will be a successor to the throne. It's also Amneris who finds Radamès with Aida and raises the alarm. The irony is that in doing so, she starts the chain of events that lead to the final fate of Radamès.
However, Radamès arranges a clandestine meeting with Aida who has been instructed by her father to locate the Egyptian army. He not only suggests a safe route of escape, but also the location of the Egyptian army to Aida. Radamès is found with the enemy and is promptly captured and sentenced to death. Despite Amneris' pleas for mercy, Radamès is still taken to a vault in which he is to be buried alive. However, Aida is waiting there for him, and shares his death.
  
I pretty much enjoyed doing my act as the princess’s accompanying men with bunch of fun loving casts.  It’s a dramatically interesting story that excited minds of the audience and resulted in one of the world's opera masterpieces.