Aida & the ayatollahs - The New Criterion

Aida & the Ayatollahs at the Paris Opera

This fall, the Paris Opera revived its “new” production of Aida, importing the version first shown at the 2017 Salzburg Festival. This choice surprised many who had seen it there.

The production was directed by Shirin Neshat, an accomplished Iranian visual artist, photographer, and film director. Despite her lack of prior opera directing experience, Neshat took on the challenge for the high-profile occasion of soprano Anna Netrebko’s debut as Aida, with Riccardo Muti conducting.

Visual and Thematic Elements

Film played a central role in the staging, featuring black-and-white footage of migrants—mostly women in sombre dress by the sea. These scenes appeared sometimes tentative and only loosely connected to the opera’s main drama.

Direction and Staging

Muti’s dislike for radical stagings influenced the production’s overall style, but this was weakened by Neshat’s traditional “stand-and-sing” approach for the lead performers.

Revivals and Changes

Political Parallels

Neshat highlighted striking parallels between the opera’s priests, sporting flowing, ayatollah-like beards, and the hardline theocrats of her estranged homeland. This comparison intensified the opera’s themes of violence.

“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: The Paris Opera’s revival of Aida offered a powerful fusion of traditional opera with contemporary political symbolism, shaped by Shirin Neshat’s unique artistic perspective and advocacy for women’s rights.

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The New Criterion The New Criterion — 2025-11-06

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