Aida was commissioned by the Khedive of Egypt for the opening of a new opera house in Cairo, which coincided with the opening of the Suez Canal. Due to unforeseen circumstances, like the Franco/Prussian War trapping the sets in Paris, the opening was delayed. So instead of opening in 1869 when originally scheduled its premiere was in December of 1871.

It seems I wasn't the only one impressed by the "Triumphal" and it has since become one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music. Aidia itself is considered one of the big three of Opera along with Bizzet's Carmen and Puccini's La bohème and remains one of the most frequently performed to this day.

As with all the really popular Operas there are also a great number of recordings of Aida on the market, and finding the right one to purchase could be a challenge. In spite of its popularity Aida is still a difficult piece to perform due to the challenges faced by the singers to live up to the history of the piece, and the opulence required to do it justice.

Given the tale is set in the court of the ancient Pharaoh's of Egypt and there are key scenes aside from the "Triumphal," the singers have to be able fill the spaces with presence and sound lending credibility to the environment and their characters. Not just any singer can play the General of the Pharaoh's army and have the charisma to make both the Pharaoh's daughter and the beauteous slave girl, Aida, fall in love with him.

Conversely it takes a special singer to be able to convince an audience this same officer would be willing to throw everything away, even his life, for one who is merely a slave, especially when he could have the hand of the Princess in marriage. She must be pretty hot stuff for any of that to happen. Together they must be able to show their love is so deep he will trade his country's military secrets for her sake as it turns out she is the daughter of the King Of Ethiopia, the country Egypt is currently at war with.

There is a reason daytime serial television is referred to as an opera with their predominance of star crossed lovers and intricate plots. Larger then life characters and circumstances are other elements that the two forms have in common. In some ways really, Aida is just an even more overblown soap opera than usual whose integrity comes not from any intellectual story line, but from the music.

So it comes down to the singers and the orchestra making the difference in the quality of the performance. While some might question the merits of a live performance, with the risks of sound problems or other unforeseeable accidents that can happen compared to the guarantees of a studio performance, the live version of Aida that Opera D'oro has on offer currently has compensations that make up for any drawbacks in sound quality.