Aida

Contrary to popular belief, AIDA, Giuseppe Verdi's homage to the late-nineteenth century penchant for exoticism, was not commissioned for or performed at the opening of the Suez Canal in November 1869, indeed it would be a full two years before the premiere of AIDA at the Egyptian Khedive's newly-constructed opera house. Over a century later, Sam Wanamaker's production stars Luciano Pavarotti as Radames, commander of the Egyptian Army, who falls for Ethiopian slave Aida, portrayed by the soprano Margaret Price.