The grand decorum of Verdi's Aida should not obscure the fact that the intimate is at the heart of the work. 

A love story of infinite sweetness set against a political backdrop, the opera offers a wide range of emotions. As with all Verdi's masterpieces, only the greatest voices can do justice to the fabulous vocal writing.

Listen to the Music & Opera playlist : 

This opera in four acts is world-famous for its triumphal march (the trumpets of Aida), which sometimes makes us forget just how rich and complex Verdi's music is in this work. Often martial and emphatic in its accompaniment of victorious armies, it also conveys the torments of human passions: love, tenderness or jealousy...

Gentle and harmonious in the prelude to the first act, passionate and dramatic in the love scenes, the score becomes poignant to accompany the death of the lovers. In Egypt, at the time of the Pharaohs, the Ethiopian king Amonasro threatens to attack Thebes and the Nile valley. The young Egyptian captain Radames is in love with a pretty Ethiopian slave, Aida, but he does not know that she is Amonasro's daughter. For her part, Amneris, the Pharaoh's daughter, is infatuated with Radames. Jealousy and passion, against a backdrop of war and betrayal, lead to the deaths of Radames and the young slave girl.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• Aida, Ethiopian slave girl, soprano.
• Radames, Egyptian captain, tenor.
• Amneris, daughter of Pharaoh, mezzo-soprano.
• Amonasro, king of Ethiopia, baritone.
• Ramphis, high priest, bass.