Aida & the Ayatollahs
On a Revival of Verdi’s Opera at the Paris Opera
The Paris Opera’s latest production of Verdi’s Aida arrived this fall as a transfer from the 2017 Salzburg Festival, a choice that surprised many who had seen it previously. Directed by Iranian visual artist, photographer, and filmmaker Shirin Neshat, the staging was originally designed for a prestigious event: soprano Anna Netrebko’s debut in the title role under the baton of Riccardo Muti.
Though Neshat had never directed an opera before, her background in film strongly influenced the production. Black-and-white video sequences featuring migrants, mainly women in dark clothing by the sea, appeared throughout the performance. These cinematic insertions added atmosphere but occasionally felt disconnected from the opera’s central drama.
Apart from these visual interludes, the staging maintained Muti’s traditionalist instincts, though its reliance on static, formal singing limited its theatrical vitality. The original Salzburg production was revived in 2022 with some reported revisions before arriving in Paris.
At the Paris revival, Neshat, known for her advocacy of women’s rights, brought a more personal interpretation. This time, she emphasized the parallels between the opera’s priestly caste—shown with long, ayatollah-style beards—and the authoritarian theocrats of modern Iran, which lent the story’s violence a sharper resonance.
“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
Shirin Neshat’s Aida at the Paris Opera transforms a classic staging into a reflection on power, faith, and repression, linking Verdi’s drama with echoes of modern Iran.