Se quel guerrier io fossi! (Atto I) (Aida)

The Khedive Isma'il Pasha first approached Verdi for a work to mark the opening of the Suez Canal, and Verdi refused; he accepted only later, for 150,000 francs, once the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette's scenario reached him. Scenery and costumes were trapped in Paris during the siege of 1870–71, delaying everything. The premiere took place at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Verdi regarded the Milan performance of 8 February 1872 as the real first night. Behind the processions the opera rests on a private conflict that ends underground, in a sealed vault.