Aida Taormina 2011

Aida at the greek Theater of Taormina on August 7th – 10th – 12th
Aida is a Giuseppe Verdi’s opera in four acts, libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on an original subject of Auguste Mariette. Ismail Pascià, kedivè of Egypt, commissioned a hymn to Verdi to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, paying 80.000 franchi, but Verdi refused, saying that he didn’t write music on commission. Instead when he was invited to write an opera for the inauguration of the new theater in Cairo, he accepted. The first performance was at the “Khedivial Opera House” in Cairo on December 24th 1871 directed by Giovanni Bottesini.