Set in ancient Egypt, “Aida” is one of those opera classics that has, since its premiere in 1871 at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo, Egypt, wowed audiences and cemented its place in the operatic canon. Adapted from an Italian libretto by Antonia Ghislanzoni, “Aida” was written as an opera in 1870 by Italian operatist Giuseppe Verdi in Italian.

It is a story about patriotism, jealousy, war and the predicament of forbidden love, with the storyline going as follows: Warrior Radames falls in love with the Ethiopian slave Aida (who he doesn’t know is a princess), and Aida, torn between her love for Radames and her loyalty to her father and to her country, must make a decision.