· d · e Aida ( /ɑːˈiːdɑː/ ah-EE-dah; sometimes spelled Aïda; from Arabic: عايدة‎, pronounced [ˈʕaːjdah], an Arabic female name meaning "visitor" or "returning") is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini..