Amneris, who has overheard the conversation, comes out of the temple, crying of betrayal. Radames reveals the military plans she wants but Amonasro, inopportunely, appears and reveals his identity, frustrating everyone. She manages to convince him, using seduction and sensuality. Plagiarised, Aida faces the meeting with her loved one, explaining the reasons for which the only solution possible is her escape. Aida tries to oppose this but her father’s curse and her sense of guilt should her people be massacred lead her to giving in. With deceptive sweetness, he promises her return home, glory and love but he poses a condition: her loved one must divulge the route of the Egyptian troops. He has realised that Aida and Radames are linked and he takes advantage of his daughter’s feelings to work out a strategy. Filled with anxiety and nostalgia, Aida evokes the wide open spaces of her homeland, sings her love for her lost country, symbol of a promised happiness that has vanished.Īmonasro appears unexpectedly, and organizes an ambush against the Egyptian army. Aida also arrives, secretly: she has an appointment with Radames. With private sentiments and great collective emotions manipulated and organized according to a fanatical ritual, any kind of conciliation is impossible.Īt night, on the banks of the Nile, Amneris goes into the temple of Isis to pray. In an atmosphere of general repudiation, Amonasro meditates revenge. The marriage of Amneris to the triumphant Radames is announced. The King reaches a compromise: Aida and Amonasro will remain hostages in Egypt as guarantors of peace, all the others will be released. Ramfis invites the King to show no pity while Radames requests that the prisoners be granted life and freedom. The Ethiopian prisoners file past, too and Aida recognizes one of them, her father Amonasro dressed as a simple officer who speaks on behalf of all the hostages, asking for clemency. The King promises to grant all Radames’s wishes. Radames enters at the end of the triumphal procession. In Scene 2 private fates are forgotten as marches, dances, hymns and fanfares welcome the victorious army at Thebes. Furious, the Pharaoh’s daughter threatens revenge. She reveals the deception and admits the truth: Radames is alive, but she, too, is in love with him. Aida’s desperation at hearing this news now confirms Amneris’s suspicions. She is friendly to her but leads their conversation to the issue most dear to her, putting the slave’s feelings to the test: Radames, she informs her with studied indifference, has been killed in battle. Her double-cross with Aida proceeds astutely. The commander-in-chief has received a blessing, hence it is a just war albeit set on destruction.Īmneris is in her apartment preparing for Radames’s triumphant return. Against a background of singing and dancing, a silver veil is placed on Radames’s head while Ramfis hands him the consecrated sword. The rite of investiture as commander-in-chief takes place in the Temple of Vulcan. Desperate, full of repressed anxiety, she prays to the gods for mercy. Aida, in private, grieves: she hopes Radames will be victorious but at the same time, wants her father, Amonasro to destroy the Egyptian troops. The King and Ramfis stand out as personalities who have no individual identity, personifying a power which crushes anyone who stands in their way.Īfter a messenger arrives to confirm that the Ethiopians have invaded under the leadership of King Amonasro, the Pharaoh announces that the Oracle has chosen Radames to be commander-in-chief.Įveryone is thrilled and urges him to return home victorious. The leaders of the State meet to plan a war strategy. Meanwhile, Aida’s heart is heavy with anxiety: her country is at war, yet at the same time, a love links her to a new world.Ī fanfare sounds and a majestic choral scene overrides individual conflicts and aspirations. Intuitive by nature, though, she immediately suspects she has a rival in this slave but prefers to conceal her jealousy with double cunning. The Egyptian princess is also in love with Radames. War, for him, is also an occasion to appear valiant before the eyes of the woman he secretly loves: Aida, an Ethiopian slave in the service of Amneris, the Pharaoh’s daughter. He dreams of glory, and everything seems possible. He hopes the god Isis will appoint him supreme commander of the army. The idea of a war stimulates Radames, a man of ambition and courage. Ramfis, the High Priest and secret power of the State, informs Radames, captain of the guards, that the Ethiopians are about to invade Egypt.
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