One of the greatest of all grand operas, Aida has long been a favorite showpiece of the world's leading singers. Commissioned of Verdi to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal and first performed in Cairo in 1871, Aida has ever since thrilled audiences with its majestic triumphal march and glorious arias. Radames, the Egyptian captain who is selected to lead the army against the invading Ethopians, loves the slave girl Aida, and learns too late that the Ethiopian king is her father. Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris also loves Radames, and the love triangle comes to a tragic end in the famous tomb scene.