Aida 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 (although there are scholars who argue that the scenario was really written by Temistocle Solera). It was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on December 24, 1871 under the baton of Giovanni Bottesini.