BY KAREN BOSSICK

Guiseppe Verdi’s tragic “Aida,” a story of political power struggles and jealousies, will hit the big screen Saturday in the Metropolitan Opera’s live simulcast.

Touted as “the grandest of grand operas,” it will start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at Merlin’s Magic Lantern in Ketchum. The screening, combined with behind-the-scenes interviews, is being presented by Sun Valley Opera and Broadway.

It runs 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, this was commissioned by Cairo’s Khedivial Opera House and it had its premiere there in 1871.

It revolves around an Ethiopian princess named Aida who has been kidnapped. But, when she falls in love with General Radames, the man chosen to fight against Ethiopia, she is forced to choose between her love for her country and the man she loves.

Few operas have matched Aida in its exploration of the conflict of private emotion and public duty, and perhaps no other has remained to the present day so unanimously appreciated by audiences and critics alike, according to the Met HD.

The Met HD presentation is packed with magnificent choruses, complex ensembles and elaborate ballets.

Soprano Angel Blue makes her long-awaited Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for Michael Mayer’s spectacular new staging, which brings audiences inside the towering pyramids and gilded tombs of ancient Egypt with intricate projections and dazzling animations.

Mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi, following her 2024 debut in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, is Aida’s Egyptian rival Amneris, and tenor Piotr Beczała is the soldier Radamès—completing opera’s greatest love triangle.

The all-star cast also features baritone Quinn Kelsey as Amonasro and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as Ramfis.

Merlin’s Magic Lantern, at 100 East 2nd St in Ketchum, is a credit card only business.