AIDA at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Aida is a slave at the Egyptian court. She is the king’s daughter from the enemy country of Ethiopia but has fallen in love with the Egyptian military leader Radamès. Her father Amonasro uses her to learn about the military strategy of his adversaries. Meanwhile, Amneris, the Egyptian king’s daughter, uses everything in her power to fight for her love for Radamès and tries to kill her rival. Everyone is at the mercy of a ruthless cartel of priests and warriors.
At the height of European imperialism and the beginning of African colonisation, Aida premiered in Cairo in December 1871. Noticeably, Verdi’s score reveals that his aim was not to set history to music. Rather, he criticizes an inhuman society. In his production of Aida, director Calixto Bieito focuses on the Kammerspiel-like passages of the opera as well as the conflict between the political events surrounding the piece at the time it was produced and the present day.
MUSIC BY Giuseppe Verdi
TEXT BY Antonio Ghislanzoni nach einem Szenario von François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette
Trailer for AIDA at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti makes his house debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden with our new production of Verdi's AIDA (director Calixto Bieito). You can see his love for music, and for this opera in particular, when you watch him conduct...
Felix Wilde, trumpeter of the Staatskapelle Berlin, explains where the Aida trumpets come from that play the famous melody of the Triumphal March in Act 2 of Verdi's AIDA and reveals who gave the Staatskapelle Berlin their trumpet set.
PLOT
ACT ONE
Before the war: Egypt is threatened by the Ethiopians.
The young officer Radamès hopes to become the new commander of the Egyptian army. He is secretly in love with the Ethiopian slave Aida, who until now has concealed her royal background. In case of victory, Radamès would like to take Aida as his wife. But Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian king, also loves Radamès and suspects Aida to be her rival.
When a messenger announces the Ethiopian invasion, the king, flanked by Ramphis, the country’s religious leader, declares war against the enemy and appoints Radamès supreme commander. In the general enthusiasm for the war effort, Aida is left alone. For her, there seems to be only one way out of the horrible conflict between her love for her father Amonasro and her Ethiopian homeland on the one hand and the Egyptian Radamès on the other: death.
In a ceremony, Ramphis prays for support in the war. Radamès is prepared for his new role.
ACT TWO
After the war: the Egyptians have defeated the Ethiopians.
Amneris, who hopes for Radamès’s love, wants to achieve clarity before his return. With feigned pity and a lie, she gets Aida to admit her love for Radamès. Now Amneris reveals herself as Aida’s rival. Caught between despair and rage, Amneris wants to humiliate the slave at the imminent victory celebrations.
All of society has gathered to celebrate the Egyptians’ victory over the Ethiopians. Although Radamès returns from the war a broken man, he is celebrated as a victor. Among the Ethiopian prisoners, Aida discovers her father, King Amonasro, who conceals his real identity. He asks for pity on the Ethiopians, but Ramphis demands the death of all the prisoners. Then Radamès pleads the king to release all the prisoners of war, but Ramphis convinces the king to keep Aida and her father as hostages. The king gives Radamès his daughter as his bride and promises him the throne. Radamès is secretly ready to renounce power for Aida.
ACT THREE
The Ethiopians have once again encroached upon Egyptian territory.
On the evening before her wedding, Amneris goes to the temple to pay for Radamès’s love. Aida is nearby waiting for Radamès. Her father suddenly appears and demands that she convince Radamès to betray the Egyptian battle plans. When Aida refuses to do so, Amonasro puts his daughter under pressure. When Radamès arrives, Amonasro hides.
Aida provokes Radamès in an attempt to make him stop loving her. But when he passionately declares his love, Aida suggests (as their only option) a secret escape. Radamès agrees. Then Aida requests from him the location of the Egyptian troops that they need to avoid, so that Radamès unintentionally reveals the battle plan. Triumphantly, Amonasro presents himself and reveals his identity as the Ethiopian king. In that very moment, Amneris and Ramphis emerge from the temple and discover the “traitor.” Amonasro wants to kill them immediately, but Ramphis stops him. Aida and Amonasro are able to escape, while Radamès voluntarily surrenders.
ACT FOUR
Amneris wants to save Radamès (despite his disloyalty) if he would renounce Aida, but Radamès refuses.
Radamès is put on trial behind closed doors by Ramphis and the priests. Since Radamès remains silent on all charges, he is condemned to death, which Amneris follows with growing horror. She finally understands the bloodthirsty nature of the system and curses the priests.
Radamès longs for death. He dreams of Aida, who wants to die together with him. Amneris is left alone.