A highly anticipated and star-studded cultural event takes place Thursday as Milan's famed La Scala opera house begins its new season with the premiere of Franco Zeffirelli's latest production of Verdi's  Aida.

Calling it the "Aida of Aidas," Zeffirelli — popularly known for his Oscar-winning 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and the television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth — has promised his fifth version of the grandiose Nile opera will go down in the history of the opera house where it made its Italian debut in 1872.

Performers take part in a rehersal for Franco Zeffirelli's latest production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.
(Marco Brescia/Teatro alla Scala/Associated Press)

"It will be a wonderful spectacle, produced with Italian pride," said the 83-year-old veteran director, who is making his return to La Scala after an absence of more than a dozen years — a period marked by tension over the opera house's management.

Zeffirelli's heady talk has helped create unprecedented buzz for all 11 showings of Aida, with advance tickets selling out within 24 hours.  

The most fervour, though, has been reserved for Thursday's premiere, which was expected to draw a host of luminaries from the political, cultural and financial spheres.

Italian Premier Romano Prodi invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to attend. Other political figures expected to appear included Greek President Karolos Papoulias, Croation Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, as well as the French and Italian cultural ministers and the oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Nigeria.

Also slated to attend were Italian designer Donatella Versace, soccer star Marco Materazzi and Alessandro Profumo, the CEO of Unicredit, Italy's largest bank.

480 costumes, 200 kilograms of gold dust

Daniel Barenboim, appointed last spring as principal conductor of La Scala, was also to be in the audience.

Barenboim was brought in to stabilize the opera house after a tense period that culminated with the resignation of former conductor Riccardo Muti in 2005 amid troubled relations with the orchestra.

Aida tells the story of an Ethiopian princess captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, is torn between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh and in the end is willingly buried alive with Aida.

Zeffirelli designed the sets for his latest production of the opera, which media reports have said features 480 costumes, as well as 200 kilograms of gold dust used to create the mask of Tutankhamen that dominates the stage throughout.

Italian Riccardo Chailly conducts the orchestra, while Lithuanian mezzosoprano Violeta Urmana sings the title role and tenor Roberto Alagna handles the part of Radames.

Zeffirelli's Aida is expected to be taken abroad after its run in Milan, with possible showings in Israel, Japan and China among other destinations.

With files from the Associated Press