“È tutta scena e ve la racconto”: the third episode in the series by Marco Malvaldi for Arena di Verona tell us about “Aida”

Why does Aida’s “Triumphal march” excite us to much?

What instruments did Giuseppe Verdi use to describe love, the glory and the justice, without bothering to use words? 

The third episode of "È tutta scena e ve la racconto..." (It’s all an act and I’ll tell you about it), the series by author Marco Malvaldi for Fondazione Arena di Verona in collaboration with Corriere della Sera. Every week, the author of I delitti del BarLume guides us on the discovery of the most popular operas, revealing their secrets and subplots.

After La traviata and Carmen, it’s now the turn of the opera most performed ever on the Arena stage: Aida.

Aida and Radamès are in love, which we know. A secret relationship, a matter with which - so they say - Giuseppe Verdi had a certain experience.

However, love is not the protagonist of this story. And, as can be seen, neither is Aida. The protagonist of the opera is a musical element that we know better than we think: the fourth...