It was on this day in 1871 that Giuseppe Verdis opera Aida had its debut at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo. The opera was commissioned by Ismail Pasha, the khedive of Egypt. Pasha had been educated in Paris, and he dreamed that with the construction of the Suez Canal, Cairo would be the new Paris. Pasha planned elaborate festivities to celebrate the canals opening, and he wrote to ask Verdi if the great composer would write a piece of music to celebrate. Verdi answered: I regret that I must decline this honor [...] it is not my custom to compose occasional pieces. Pasha accepted that, but he did not give up on Verdi. The Egyptian leader built a beautiful and luxurious opera house, which opened with the Suez Canal in November of 1869; its first opera was Verdis Rigoletto. The next spring, Pasha offered Verdi 150,000 francs, a huge sum of money, to write an Egyptian-themed opera.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:25:46 +0000
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