With war and acts of violence in the background, Aida tells the story of a fascinating and tense love triangle between the Egyptian princess, Amneris, Ramades, an officer, and Aida, a Nubian princess, captured and reduced to slavery. The historical scenes and triumphal marches, which have contributed to the popularity of this opera, are followed by intimate but powerful duets and introspective moments of great intensity. The director, Stathis Livathinos, who is the Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Greece, comes to La Monnaie to stage his first opera, Aida. Conscious of the tensions at play in the Mediterranean Basin and the issues they raise of nationalism, the struggle for freedom, and exile, he explores the different facets of this opera in which personal desire faces a sense of duty, individual destiny that of the collective destiny.