On four consecutive evenings, between 20 and 23 January, Aida by Giuseppe Verdi will be restaged at the main hall of the Cairo Opera House.

Being the most popular and most frequently staged operatic works in Egypt, its history entwines a series of remarkable performances and events commemorating the opera and the composer. 

Composed to the libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, and based on a story written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, commissioned by the Khedive Ismail Pasha, Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871.

In recent Egyptian history, Aida was performed on a yearly basis on the stage of the Khedival (old) Opera House in Cairo until it burned down in 1971.

Throughout the 1980s until the early 2000s, the opera's staging locations alternated between the new opera (since 1988), Deir Al-Bahari Temple, Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor and in front of the pyramids with Sphinx as the backdrop.

In 2013, Aida served as backdrop to events which swept the culture scene, when then Culture Minister Alaa Abdel-Aziz began series of sackings of the many key figures from the country's top cultural institutions. On 28 May 2013, the day that Aida was supposed to be staged, the curtain of the opera's main hall opened to an on stage strike. Hundreds of artists protested against the dismissal of chairperson Ines Abdel-Dayem from her post. Abdel-Dayem returned to her post in July, reinstated by the following minister Mohamed Saber Arab.

The opera which will be performed between 20 and 23 will include Egyptian and international cast members. The opera is directed by late Abdel-Moneim Kamel and the Cairo Opera Orchestra will be conducted by David Crescenzi.

The cast:

Aida: Iman Moustafa 20, 22, 23 -- Angela Gottardo 21
Ramades: Leonardo Gramegna 20, 22 -- Paolo Lardizzon 21, 23
Amonasro: Sefano Meo 20, 22 -- Moustafa Mohamed 21, 23
Amneris: Hala El Shaboury 20, 22 -- Jolie Faizy 21, 23
Il Re: Abdel Wahab El Sayed (All performances)
Ramfis: Reda El Wakil (All performances)
Sacerdotessa: Gihan Fayed (All performances)
Un messagero: Ossama Aly 20, 22 -- Ibrahim Nagui 21, 23

Programme:
20-23 January, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, main hall