Radio abridgement - complete as performed by French Radio
French version by Camille du Locle and Charles Nuitter
Image of Akhenaton, Pharaoh of Egypt (circa1375 b. C.)
In 1876, Verdi went to Paris to supervise the first performance of Aida in France, at the Théâtre Italien. While there he was shown a projected French translation of the opera by Charles Nuitter. He found it totally inadequate and worked on it for a while with Nuitter. Soon, however, he despaired of getting any significant improvements from him.
In 1879, Auguste Vaucourbeil, director of the Paris Opera, visited Verdi at Sant'Agata with a view to get the maestro's authorization for a series of performances. One of the conditions Verdi insisted upon was that the Nuitter text be thoroughly revised. For this task, Verdi suggested his friend Camille du Locle. In the next year, when his was in France to conduct the first performances, Verdi further worked with Du Locle on the French text, bringing it to his full satisfaction.
In this performance, Maria Giovanna Vitale sings in Italian. José Luccioni also uses Italian when addressing Aida. The rest of the time, he and the other singers use the French translation. At the time, there were in France several good Desdemonas, including Jeanne Segala and Marisa Ferrer. Why would the French radio engage a foreign artist unable to sing in French is a mystery. Vitale, however, sings very well as both Aida and Desdemona.
Act 1