Opera Theater to perform ‘Aida’

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Opera and Ballet Theater is planning to entertain their audiences with Aida opera by Giuseppe Verdi this Saturday. The theater staged the opera in 2010, marking its premiere in the nation. That staging was a great achievement of the theater that has been making great efforts to extend its repertoire with classic and modern pieces. Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario often attributed to French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, although Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz has argued that the scenario was actually written by Temistocle Solera. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. The libretto does not specify a precise time period, so it is difficult to place the opera more specifically than the Old Kingdom. For the first production, Mariette went to great efforts to make the sets and costumes authentic. Given the consistent artistic styles throughout the 3000 year history of ancient Egypt, a given production does not particularly need to choose a specific time period within the larger frame of ancient Egyptian history.