Set in ancient Egypt during the period of the pharaohs, the concert version of Aida is set to revive Giuseppe Verdi's famous production on the stage of the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing.

Aida is a willful and beautiful Ethiopian princess. She is captured and made a slave in Egypt by an Egyptian military commander, Radames. He falls in love with her, but the pharaoh's daughter Amneris wants Radames for herself. He struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the pharaoh.

Chinese soprano He Hui takes the title role Aida. While He has played the role hundreds of times since 1998 and performed with such opera companies as the Wiener Staatsoper, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera, it is her first time playing the role in China. As an official event of the 2012 "Friendship Year for Japan-China People-To-People Exchanges", the opera is also the first joint production of the New National Theater, Tokyo and NCPA. Chinese and Japanese artists are equally represented in the lineup and the chorus.

7:30 pm, Aug 3 and 5. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000.?