Word of the Day
Aida (eye-EE-duh)
· Common clues: Verdi heroine, Slave of opera; Opera about a slave
· Crossword puzzle frequency: 9 times a year
· Frequency in English language: 52007 / 86800
Aida is an Italian opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written Antonio Ghislanzoni. It was first performed at Cairo on December 24, 1871.
"Portrait
of Giuseppe Verdi" by Giovanni Boldini (1886) National
Gallery of Modern Art in Rome
Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, paying him 80,000 francs, but the premier was delayed because of Franco-Prussian War. The opera was met with great acclaim and continues to be a staple of the standard operatic repertoire. There are many of recordings of it, and it is frequently performed.
Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is captured into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her, his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radames is loved by the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris, although he does not return the feeling.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Aida".
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