‘Aida’ lands at Center – JH News&Guide

There are fewer settings more grand, more exotic, more regal and opulent than ancient Egypt. So when Giuseppe Verdi, one of Italy’s most famous composers of opera all through the second half of the 19th century, was commissioned to write one to celebrate the recently opened engineering marvel of the Suez Canal, he naturally turned to the Old Kingdom, circa 2,700-2,200 BCE, for inspiration.

The resulting opera, “Aida,” premiered on Christmas Eve, 1871, in Cairo, Egypt, and has over the past 150 years become one of the form’s most-produced works (New York City’s Metropolitan Opera has presented more than 1,000 performances of it over the decades).
The Met captured its most recent production of the tragic tale of love (what else) and betrayal (oh, that else) in high-definition to show on hundreds of screens all around the world, including here at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts.

Radiant soprano Angel Blue makes her Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between loyalties in this massive, gilded staging by Michael Mayer, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting.

Presented by the Grand Teton Music Festival, Jackson opera fans can witness the spectacle at 3 p.m. today. The work runs a bit over three hours with an intermission. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $5 for students and students, and are available at GTMF.org.

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