Aida, Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece, where war comes into conflict with love.

In this opera God is hitched up to the chariot. The invisible one leads the troops. Murder and plundering are done in his name. 

Opera Spanga presents Verdi’s Aida in a time which demands awareness. The great world conflicts, the most obvious examples being the wars in Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and other hot spots are brought almost physically closer through Corina van Eijk’s production. Aida is about war, hate, love and forgiveness. Verdi wrote this opera as an obvious appeal for peace. It is no coincidence that peace ('Pace') is the last word of the opera. This series of performances and the peripheral program 'De Rottige Meente als podium' demonstrate how useless, how disastrous are hate, vengeance and war.

It would be nice if the audience were convinced that war is an outdated instrument. This is a conclusion which each and every person can draw in his own life. As Brecht said, "Stell dir vor, es ist Krieg, und keiner geht hin ..." (Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.) We are all responsible for war and its perpetuation.