Join Amanda and Cat as they explore Giuseppe Verdi's grand 19th century opera, Aida, through the lens of three different analytical texts. Each author examines the opera through a different perspective, from the music and the libretto to the greater context behind the writing of Aida in 1870, which was first performed in 1871 for the opening of the Cairo Opera House.
The works referenced in the episode include Edward Said's “The Empire at Work: Verdi’s Aida” in Culture and Imperialism (New York: Vintage Books, 1993); Paul Robinson's “Is Aida an Orientalist Opera?” in Opera, Sex, and Other Vital Matters (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002); and Christopher R. Gauthier and Jennifer McFarlane-Harris's “Nationalism, Racial Difference, and ‘Egyptian’ Meaning in Verdi’s Aida,” in Blackness in Opera, Naomi André, Karen M. Bryan, and Eric Saylor, eds. (University of Illinois Press, 2012).