2007/2008 Season Opera
10th Anniversary Special Performance

Giuseppe Verdi :AIDA

OPERA HOUSE

Aida	:	Norma Fantini
Radames	:	Marco Berti
Amneris	:	Marianna Tarasova
Amonasro	:	Horiuchi Yasuo
Ramfis	:	Arutjun Kotchinian
Il Re	:	Saiki Kenji
Un messaggero	:	Fuse Masaya
Sacerdotessa	:	Watanabe Remi
Chorus	:	New National Theatre Chorus
Ballet	:	Tokyo City Ballet Company
Orchestra	:	Tokyo Symphony Orchestra

March 2008	10	16	20	23	26	29
	Mon	Sun	Thu	Sun	Wed	Sat
2:00		X	X	X		X
6:30	X				X

Doors will open 45 minutes before the opening of the performance.

	S	A	B	C	D	Z
Price(yen)	28,350	23,100	15,750	10,500	5,250	1,500

Said to be Verdi’s greatest masterpiece, enjoyable by opera novices and fervent fans alike, beloved throughout the world. In Zeffirelli’s masterful staging, the world of ancient Egypt comes colorfully to life, with a scenic art so elegant and gorgeous that it leaves audience breathless. With its brilliant arias, and the grand triumphal march “Gloria all’Egitto” (Glory to Egypt, to Isis!) and the ballet, it delivers on its reputation as a festival opera. Please look forward to one of the greatest spectacles in the proud history of Japanese opera at the New National Theatre, Tokyo.

The setting is ancient Egypt.  Aida, princess of Ethiopia who was defeated in the war, is a captive and slave to the Egyptian princess Amneris, who does not know that Aida is the daughter of the Ethiopian king.  Aida and Radames, captain of the Egyptian guard, secretly love each other, but Amneris also loves Radames.  One day, Radames returns from a victorious campaign bringing with him many slaves, including Aida’s father Amonasro.  The Ethiopian king Amonasro sees his daughter again and convinces her to find out from Radames which route the Egyptian forces plan to take in the next war with Ethiopia.  At night, Aida, in a rendezvous with Radames on the bank of the Nile, tries to persuade him to flee with her and extracts from him information about the operations of the Egyptian forces.  Stunned to know of the enemy’s plot, Radames surrenders himself and is placed under arrest.  Amneris offers to plead for him if he marries her, but ultimately, he refuses to explain and is sentenced to death.  As the walls of his burial chamber are sealed up, Radames discovers that Aida has concealed herself in the darkness.  The lovers die quietly but at the same time attain eternal love.