100 Great Operas and Their Stories: Act-By-Act Synopses (4 page)

Time: period of the Pharaohs’ power

Place: Memphis and Thebes

First performance at Cairo, December 24, 1871

    I should like to introduce this great masterpiece of art with a few words about money, just to show that serious composers are not always poor, struggling, unappreciated fellows, but that they are sometimes rewarded for their work in a really princely fashion. The fact is that Verdi asked for—and received without any effort at bargaining—the sum of $30,000 for
Aïda
. The contract was signed before the composer had written a single note, and all that the purchaser got for his 150,000 francs was one copy of the score and the right to produce it first in Cairo, Egypt—and in Cairo only. Verdi retained all the
other rights, and these included royalties from performances everywhere else in the world and publication of the score and the libretto. When one remembers that, in the Europe of 1870, $30,000 would be worth at least $200,000 today—and also that there was no income tax—one can see that the Khedive of Egypt, who paid the money, set a high value on musical genius.

I do not mean to imply that Verdi was a money-grabber. He really didn’t need money, in the first place. It took a great deal of persuasion to get him to write an opera at all; and when he did undertake
Aïda
, he paid his librettist generously—and also contributed a portion of the advance to the sufferers in the siege of Paris. He worked hard and conscientiously, too. He took a four-page outline of the story by the Egyptologist Mariette Bey and, with his French friend Camille du Locle, worked out a four-act libretto. Then he engaged the Italian poet Ghislanzoni to transform it into an Italian libretto, and he worked over every detail of that libretto, even writing some of the lines himself. As for the music, he composed that within four months.

The world premiere in Cairo on Christmas Eve of 1871 was a huge, international success, with distinguished visitors from all over the world—not including, however, Giuseppe Verdi. But he was present, forty-six days later, at the Italian premiere in Milan. This was an equally great success, and
Aïda
has been the pet showpiece of practically every opera company in the world ever since.

PRELUDE

For the Milan premiere Verdi composed a special overture, but, conscientious artist that he was, he did not like it when it was done. It remains in manuscript, and no one has ever performed it so far as I know. At Milan they performed the eloquent but more modest prelude heard first in Egypt. It remains one of the many glories of the score. It begins softly, in the violins, with the tense but restrained theme of Aïda
herself, which is developed symphonically in contrast with the ominous theme of the high priests.

ACT I

The story supplied by Mariette was based, he said, on a historical incident; but he never did say when the incident occurred, except “in the time of the Pharaohs.” As the Pharaohs ruled—by Mariette’s own estimate—from 5004
B.C
. to
A.D
. 381 that gives us quite a stretch. Whenever it was, then, there was trouble between Egypt and Ethiopia.

Scene 1
In the hall of the King’s palace in Memphis, the Egyptian High Priest, Ramphis, tells a young officer named Radames that the Ethiopians are again on the warpath and that a general is to be chosen. Left alone, Radames hopes he may be that general, and then sings of how he also hopes someday to marry the beautiful Ethiopian slave Aïda and bring her back to her own country. This, of course, is the familiar aria
Celeste Aïda
.

Unfortunately, the King’s daughter, Amneris, is in love with Radames and, on finding him alone, virtually tells him so. But when Aïda joins them, Amneris correctly interprets the warm but despairing glances exchanged by the tenor and soprano. Aïda justifies her tears—with good reason—on the grounds of the prospect of war with her own people, and a dramatic trio follows, each character expressing his own emotions simultaneously.

Now Ramphis, the King, and the whole court come in. They hear an alarming report from a messenger: the Ethiopians are already invading, led by a fierce warrior named Amonasro. The King then announces that Radames has been chosen to lead the Egyptians in battle, and there is a vigorous, martial choral number, calling on all Egyptians to defend the sacred Nile River. At its close Amneris turns to Radames and proudly instructs him:
Ritorna vincitor!
—“Return as conqueror!” Then they all march out.

All, that is, excepting Aïda. She repeats Amneris’s line ironically, then prays for the safety of her father, then remembers
that his victory would mean the defeat of her beloved Radames, and finally ends her great aria with a pitiful, almost whispered prayer for the gods to have mercy on her.

Scene 2
takes place in the dimly lighted Temple of Vulcan. The priests are gathered for the ceremony of anointing Radames as General of the Egyptian armies. Off-stage, a solo priestess and a chorus intone a prayer, and on-stage other priestesses perform a ritual dance before the altar. A silver veil is placed over Radames, and Ramphis presents him with a sword. The priest then intones a solemn prayer for the protection of Egypt’s sacred soil. Radames joins in the prayer; so do all the other priests; and the ceremony ends with an invocation to the Egyptian God, the “Almighty Ptah.”

ACT II

Scene 1
On a terrace of the palace in Thebes, Princess Amneris reclines voluptuously on a couch. Her female slaves beautify her, the while singing the praises of Radames, who has led the Egyptian armies to victory. Further entertainment is supplied by a troupe of Moorish slaves, who execute an eccentric dance.

Then follows the great scene between Amneris and her Ethiopian handmaiden, Aïda. The Princess pretends sympathy for the girl because her people have been defeated, but her real purpose is to find out whether Aïda is her rival for the love of Radames. This she does by announcing his death in battle. Aïda’s cry of anguish convinces the Princess of what she has suspected. She accuses Aïda and announces that Radames is really alive after all. Aïda’s rapturous cry of “Thank God!” brings their rivalry out into the open. The slave begs for pity, but the Princess is passionately bitter about it. Suddenly their powerful duet is interrupted by off-stage trumpets and a chorus of triumph. Instructing her slave to follow her to the triumphal ceremonies, Amneris sweeps out, leaving Aïda to repeat the pitiful prayer she had voiced at the end of the opening scene.

Scene 2
is the stirring
Triumphal Scene
. On a great avenue
at the entrance to the city of Thebes, crowds are gathered about the throne. Warriors come in, then priests and dancers. There is a ballet and general rejoicing. The King mounts the open-air throne, and his daughter is seated beside him. Finally the returning hero, Radames, is welcomed, and the great
Triumphal March—so
familiar with its stentorian trumpets–is played just before he is drawn in on a chariot. When the King offers him anything that he wants, his first request is to have the captives brought forth. A miserable band of Ethiopians is brought on, in chains, led by Amonasro, their King. He manages to instruct Aïda secretly not to betray his true identity; and when he is asked to speak, he says that Amonasro has been killed, and he is himself a simple warrior. With great dignity he asks for mercy. The priests are against this, but Radames and the populace plead for the prisoners. A compromise is reached: all will be freed but this warrior, who is their leader. He, it seems, is put under something like house arrest.

Then, without consulting the young man as to his wishes, the King announces that Radames shall marry the Princess Amneris. She, of course, is delighted; Aïda and Radames are filled with consternation; Amonasro tells Aïda that he still has hopes for their fatherland; and everyone else sings loudly and joyfully. It makes a grand concerted climax.

ACT III

The opening music suggests the scene vividly. It is a hot summer night on the banks of the Nile, near the Temple of Isis. A boat glides up, and the High Priest Ramphis and Princess Amneris step out and enter the temple; for it is the eve of her wedding to Radames, and she must pray.

When they have disappeared, Aïda, heavily veiled, comes for a last rendezvous with her lover. If, she says, it is only to bid farewell, then she must drown herself in the Nile; and she sings her second great aria of the opera (
O patria mia)
, in which she gives voice to her longing for her native land.

But before her lover keeps his engagement, her father finds
her. At first they sing warmly of their country, but Amonasro has more serious business on his mind. Their armies have reformed. All he needs to know is where to attack the Egyptians—and Aïda must get this information out of her lover. She recoils in honor, but Amonasro is so eloquent in describing what defeat will mean for her own people that finally she agrees.

As Radames approaches, Amonasro hides himself. The lovers greet each other rapturously. Radames hopes that the new battle that is pending may delay his wedding to Amneris, while Aïda is all for his deserting now. She sings him a ravishing description of her country, but Radames refuses to turn traitor. Then Aïda turns on him and tells him to marry Amneris and forget her. At this he begins to weaken. He agrees to run away with her; he even tells her where the soldiers are whom they must avoid. This is what Amonasro has been waiting for. He rushes out, to the horror of Radames, and tries to drag the young soldier off with him. But suddenly Amneris and the priest issue from the temple. Amonasro and Aïda make good their escape, but the bitterly disillusioned Radames refuses to go along and, with a dramatic gesture, he surrenders his sword to the priest.

ACT IV

Scene 1
is the big scene for Amneris. Radames is about to be tried for treason. She waits in a passage near his cell and demands that he be brought forth. When he comes, she pleads to be allowed to save him. All she requires is that he give up Aïda and marry herself. Even when he learns that Aïda has escaped (though Amonasro has been killed), Radames turns down her offer of life with stoic scorn. He is led off by his guards.

As the priests, solemnly chanting, file past to go to the dungeon where the trial will take place, Amneris reviles herself. Her jealousy, she says, will bring death to her beloved. Down below, the trial begins. Radames is charged by the priests with deserting camp before battle, with betraying his country, his
King, and his honor. Though called on to do so, he makes no defense. Sentence is then pronounced: Radames is to be buried alive beneath the altar of the god he has failed to honor.

When the priests have filed back from the dungeon of justice, Amneris curses them as “infamous tigers” and an “impious lot.” They remain unmoved, and even after they have passed by her, she continues to hear them repeat their condemnation of Radames. As the scene closes, she works herself up into a wild fury of frustration.

Scene 2
takes place on two levels. This was Verdi’s own idea. Above is the interior of the Temple of Vulcan, where two priests set into place a stone to cover the opening. Through that opening Radames had been thrust into the crypt below. There he is awaiting death, and he utters a soft wish that Aïda may be happy wherever she is, and never hear of his dreadful end. But a moment later he sees a figure approaching him in the dimness. It is Aïda. She has managed to get into the tomb, knowing what would happen to Radames, and she has been awaiting him for three days.
^*
With a cry of anguish Radames tries to lift the heavy stone, for he cannot bear the thought of Aïda’s dying, so young and so beautiful. But death is already coming over her. She sings her last farewell to earth (O
terra, addio)
, and Radames joins in with her. Above, Amneris has entered. She has prostrated herself on the floor above the crypt, and she moans a prayer for Radames, who holds her dying rival in his arms. And as she prays, and as the priests chant a prayer, and the lovers sing their final farewell below, the curtain slowly falls.

^*
This explanation of Aïda’s moribund state appeared in an early version of the libretto only.

ALCESTE
(Alcestis)

Opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald
Gluck with libretto in Italian by Raniero da
Calzabigi based on Greek legend as told in the
tragedy by Euripides