Aïda by Verdi, jeu. 23 déc. 2021, Du (2021/2022), Dirigé par Andrea Moses,, Chef d'orchestre Dominik Beykirch, Andreas Wolf, Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar, Allemagne

Aida, the Ethiopian king's daughter captured as a slave in rich Egypt, and Radames, the newly chosen Egyptian general, are madly in love with each other. Since their home countries are at war, they have to hide their cross-border love. And that is not only exposed to the unreasonable demands of the political situation, but is also wiped out by the desires and interests of all other actors. The lovers tragically fail because of the circumstances and - hopelessly entangled in them - to themselves ... Since its premiere in the Cairo Opera House on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1871, Verdi's "Aida" was and is an absolute world success of the opera. This is not least due to the longest and most elaborate parade in opera history: the legendary triumphal march with the so-called Aida trumpets specially developed for it. On behalf of a European-oriented Egyptian elite, Verdi created one of the most ingenious pieces in European opera history; and of course wasn't interested in Africa for a second, but rather appropriated supposedly Egyptian and apparently Ethiopian food for the sake of effect. As the Palestinian literary theorist Edward W. Said wrote, the opera Aida is less a play about colonialism than a testimony to it. But the musical drama itself also tells a story of colonialism: challenged by the up-and-coming Ethiopia, the irreconcilable contradictions on which the prosperity of the hegemonic power is based emerge in Egypt. The two countries, embroiled in merciless distribution struggles, are gradually throwing their civilization overboard, burying the last remnants of humanism alive and falling into barbarism ... After many years in Weimar, "Aida" will be performed again under the musical direction of chief conductor Dominik Beykirch. The nationally and internationally celebrated director Andrea Moses stages the opera in collaboration with her long-time set designer, the head of the Berlin Schaubühne, Jan Pappelbaum, costume designer Kathrin Plath, her long-time video artist René Liebert and the music theater dramaturge Michael Höppner. After her successful Weimar productions of "Turandot", "Chowanschtschina", "Der Freischütz" and "The Circle", she continued her work at the German National Theater Weimar with the production of "Aida" and opened a new chapter as the newly appointed opera director .