|
The Cairo Opera House
By
Jimmy Dunn
 The Opera
House is a central reservoir of culture and
entertainment in Cairo, and for that matter, the world. This
facility was inaugurated on October 10th, 1988, some 17
years after the former Opera House in Cairo burnt to the
ground in 1971. The new Opera House, which was a gift
to Egypt from Japan, carries on a great tradition by the
prior facility, which was inaugurated in 1869 by the Khedive
Ismail to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. Located
on Gezira Island, the new Opera House is surrounded by the
Museum of Egyptian Modern Arts, the Nile Gallery, the
Plastic Artists Association, and the El Hangar theater.
The Opera House has a number of permanent companies,
including the Cairo Opera Company, Cairo Opera Ballet
Company, Cairo Opera Choir, Cairo Opera Children choir,
Chair Symphony Orchestra, the National Arabic Music ensemble
and the Religious Song Ensemble.
Probably the most noted Cairo Opera Company performances
is of Aida, which has been performed for many years.
However, the company's repertoire includes Orfeo, the
Dancing Years, La Boheme, II Trovatore, Cavalleria Rusficana,
Paglicci Rigolefto, Carmen, Tosca, Madam Butterfly, Le Nozze
Di figaro and Don Giovanni.
 The Cairo Opera Ballet was established in 1966, so is
somewhat of a late comer to the Cairo Opera House. The
Ballet has been on the road considerably, performing in
Russia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Germany, France and
Tunis. Also, ballets from other countries come to Egypt
to perform ate Cairo Opera House. It has about 40 dancers including 25 Egyptians
and 15 Russians.
The Cairo Opera Choir, somewhat older than the Ballet,
presents choral works during the opera season, while the
Children Chor, recently formed in 1989, consists of about
250 girls and boys and presents traditional songs and music.
The Cairo
Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1959, though their
history extends prior to this. A part of the National
Cultural Center, they perform in all opera productions. See
the above link for information and schedules for the current
season.
Another recent addition is the National Arabic Music
Ensemble, which was organized in 1989. They one the
Golden Medal, and their conductor, Dr. Ratiba El Hefny won a
Silver in the 1989 Babylon Festival.
Finally, the Religious Song Ensemble was established in
196 with the objective of reviving and preserving
traditional Arabic Song and Music.
But the Cairo Opera House is more than just these
companies. For example, currently there is an
exhibition of Egyptian and Finnish artists at the Opera
House. In June, Unit Semba from Japan provided a Jazz
concert in the small hall, and it is not unusual for foreign
productions to take place at the Opera House. In fact, such
performances are common and groups from all over the world
perform at the facilities.
What a lot of people will appreciate is that the Opera House
is about to be on-line, with not only schedules, but on-line
ticket reservations. In fact, they are installing
sophisticated programming used by airlines and others and it
has been reported that we will soon be able to purchase
tickets for popular operas such as Aida through Ticket
Masters. Even now, the Opera House has an on-line ticket
operation that can be accessed by many travel agencies.
|
