Egyptian tenor Georges Wanis will be one of the cast members of the La Fabrique Opéra Val de Loir in Orleans, France, for the opera's new production of Verdi's Aida. The French opera said on its Facebook page on Friday Wanis will sing the role of Radames, the warrior, the leader of the Egyptian troops who is madly in love with Aida, the protagonist. "We were searching for a powerful voice capable of delivering softer sounds. This is what Georges Wanis delivered to us during the auditions," read the announcement. The new production is set to be performed in March 2017. Egyptian tenor Wanis, who lives and works in France, was born to an Egyptian father and an Italian mother in 1971 and raised in Egypt, where he studied singing with Violette Makkar at the Cairo Conservatory. He graduated with a degree in French from the Faculty of Literature at Cairo University in 1994. For many years Wanis worked with the cast of the Cairo Opera House before moving to France, where he continued his music studies at the Paris' Ecole Normale de Musique with Caroline Dumas. Wanis often sings main roles in international operas and is the winner of several competitions. He won first prize in the singing contest organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in 1995, the “Interprétation” Prize in the international singing contest with Honors organised by the UFAM, in Paris in 1998, first prize in the Léopold Bellan contest with Excellence in 1999, in Paris, and laureate of the Prix Lyrique des Oeuvres des Saints Anges, in 2000, in Paris. The 45-year-old tenor worked with many renowned international artists such as Aldo Ciccolini, Bruna Baglioni, Alain Fondary, Bonaldo Giaiotti. Giuseppe Giacomini, Wilhelmina Fernandez, Alain Vanzo and Vittorio Rossi across many stages in France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Cyprus and Holland. In addition, Wanis teaches a yearly masterclass in Egypt. Aida, composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, is based on a story written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, commissioned by the Khedive Ismail Pasha in the second half of the 19th century. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
