However, no one can doubt the strength of the cast, and as the evening wears on the chosen setting becomes increasingly successful at providing an understated backdrop that really enables their interactions to come to the fore.Ĭarsen sets the action in a totalitarian state in the modern day. Robert Carsen’s new production for the Royal Opera might be seen as going to the opposite extreme in generating such a sterile and austere atmosphere that it arguably goes against the grain of the piece. This is because it is hard to capture the exoticism and exuberance of Ancient Egypt without producing something that feels gaudy or overblown.
He then discovers Aida is in there, having spied what the Egyptians were about to do and crept in so that they can die in each others’ arms.Įlena Stikhina (Aida), ROH Aida © Tristram KentonĪlthough the opera is immensely popular, it is incredibly difficult to stage well. He is subsequently found guilty and placed in a tomb, with a rock laid over it so that he cannot escape. Radamès, however, says he cannot forsake Aida, even though she has disappeared, and refuses to defend himself.
Amneris implores Radamès to deny the accusations, and desperately tries to intercede on his behalf in the hope that he will be hers. Radamès’ response gives away where the Egyptian army is headed, and when it becomes clear that Amonasro has overheard him give out this military secret he is charged by the Egyptians with treason.
Aida cannot bear to betray Radamès but reluctantly squeezes the information out of him by suggesting they should escape, and enquiring as to what route would see them avoid anyone. Amonasro wants Aida to use Radamès’ feelings for her to discover the Egyptian army’s movements so that the Ethiopians can be waiting for them. When Aida’s father Amonasro is captured in battle, with the Egyptians not realising that he is the King of Ethiopia, the slave finds herself torn between her private love for Radamès and her public responsibility towards her people. As a Princess of Egypt and the daughter of the King, Amneris believes that her feelings for the Chief of the Guard Radamès ought to be reciprocated, and is horrified when she discovers that he and Aida, an Ethiopian slave, are actually in love. Set in Ancient Egypt, Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida of 1871, with a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, centres on a love triangle between Radamès, Amneris and Aida.
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