Aida & the Ayatollahs
Paris Opera’s Revival of Aida
This fall, the Paris Opera revived a “new” production of Verdi’s Aida originally staged at the 2017 Salzburg Festival. The decision surprised many who remembered that initial showing.
Shirin Neshat’s Direction
Created by Iranian visual artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat, the production marked her first venture into opera direction. Known for her striking visual work, Neshat approached Aida with cinematic sensibility, integrating black-and-white film sequences featuring migrants, mainly women dressed in somber tones by the sea.
The sequences sometimes emerged as tentative and incidental to the opera’s drama.
Originally designed for soprano Anna Netrebko’s debut as Aida under the baton of Riccardo Muti, the work blended traditional staging with strong visual symbolism. While Neshat brought emotional imagery, the direction at times felt static, adhering to a “stand-and-sing” style more typical of earlier operatic traditions.
Artistic Evolution and Interpretation
After a 2022 revival in Salzburg with reported adjustments, the Paris Opera presentation allowed Neshat to expand her vision. As an advocate for women’s rights and a critic of theocratic repression in Iran, she infused the production with sharper parallels between Verdi’s priestly figures and modern religious hardliners.
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.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Neshat’s Aida became a meditation on authority, devotion, and oppression—showing how an iconic opera can serve as a mirror for contemporary struggles.
Author’s Summary: Shirin Neshat’s Paris revival of Verdi’s Aida transforms classic grandeur into political commentary, exposing tensions between faith, power, and personal freedom.