Aida & the Ayatollahs - The New Criterion
The Paris Opera’s revival of Aida this fall featured a production originally staged at the 2017 Salzburg Festival. This version was created by the Iranian visual artist, photographer, and film director Shirin Neshat, who had no previous experience directing opera. The production was notable for marking the role debut of soprano Anna Netrebko as Aida, under the baton of Riccardo Muti.
Film elements played a key role, especially black-and-white footage showing migrants, primarily women in somber clothing near the sea. These sequences occasionally felt tentative and somewhat detached from the core drama of the opera. The staging aligned with Muti’s preference for conservative productions, though it was weakened by Neshat’s traditional, stand-and-sing approach to directing the lead performers.
Salzburg revived this production in 2022, reportedly including some changes. The Paris Opera’s new revival allowed Neshat, known for her advocacy of women’s rights, to express her vision more completely. She drew explicit parallels between the opera’s priests, sporting flowing, ayatollah-style beards, and the authoritarian theocrats of her homeland, intensifying the opera’s depiction of violence.
“Parallels between the opera’s priests—decked out with flowing, ayatollah-style beards—and the hardline theocrats of her estranged country made the opera’s violence more pronounced.”
Author's summary: The Paris Opera’s revival of Aida, directed by Shirin Neshat, combines traditional staging with powerful visual metaphors linking the opera’s themes to contemporary political and social realities.