Max Derrickson

The Commissioning of Verdi’s Aida 

The opening of the Suez Canalin 1869 was an event that astonished the world, both by its engineering audacity and its lavish ceremonies.  It was, as Walt Whitman penned, a “Passage to India!” linking Old to New, East to West.  The Viceroy of Egypt, Khedive Ismail, had been planning the ceremonies for as long as it took to dig the Canal –10 years.
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The Khedive did, but the commissioning of Aida did not occur as we have often been told.

All manner of extravagant celebrations took place on November 17, 1869, both in the opposing ports at the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and nearly everywhere in between.   In Cairo, where dozens of heads of state throughout the Arab and Christian world gathered, the celebration was unprecedented.  As a prelude, the Cairo Opera House opened its doors, and the curtain rose to Verdi’s … Rigoletto!

Verdi was indeed commissioned by Khedive Ismail to write a celebratory piece for the opening ceremonies, but Aida was not yet in mind (or if it was, it couldn’t possibly have been completed in time).
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Armed with a prose version of Aida written by the famous Egyptologist Auguste-Edouard Mariette, the Khedive set about persuading Verdi through other means.  Both Viceroy and archaeologist appealed to Camille du Locle, Director of the Opéra Comique in Paris and Verdi’s colleague in Don Carlos.  Besides knowing Verdi’s love of exotic (and good) stories, du Locle invited the composer to reconsider the commission; otherwise he might need to ask Wagner or Gounod.
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150,000 francs and the retention of virtually all rights,
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Though the libretto and music were completed by January of 1871, the world premiere of Aida in Cairo did not occur until December 24, primarily because Mariette, in charge of creating the sets and costumes in Paris, was trapped there for four months during the Franco-Prussian War.
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