Amal Choucri Catta looks heavenward Gala Concert, Cairo Opera Orchestra, conductor , with five finalists of the Swedish International Singing Competition "Stenhammar", Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 11 May, 9pm This concert was a rare event. Opera at its best, it was applauded and appreciated by all who had the privilege of witnessing it. They were five brilliant young Divas with magnificent voices and a fabulous presence on stage, unanimously admired and loved, even by those who, as a general rule, "do not like" opera. This time the five Divas convinced them that opera is not "screaming", but "singing". Finalists of the renowned "Stenhammar International Vocal Competition" in Sweden, they gave a single concert at Cairo Opera's Main Hall, with the orchestra conducted by , who had likewise conducted the Stenhammar Competition last year in Sweden. Enthused by the brilliance of the performers' voices, Abbassi invited them to Cairo: their concert turned into one of the most marvellous musical events of the season. It opened with the orchestral Overture to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's four-act opera Le nozze di Figaro, a lively comedy inspired by Beaumarchais' La folle journée, depicting the social imbroglios of a rather "mad day". Then Agnes Vojtko strode onto the stage like a queen, in her elegant, pastel-coloured ensemble; she was the only one wearing trousers, which suited her perfectly. Tall, slender and beautiful, a blonde angel with a sweet smile and a captivating mezzo timbre. As she slowly glided to the front of the stage, a very masculine long "Oooh" could be heard in the hall, and when she started singing, the "Oooh" was turned off and appreciative smiles were turned on. Agnes Vojtko received her musical degrees at the University of Texas in Austin and at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. She has performed in different countries and won several prizes. At Cairo's Main Hall, she opened the vocal part of the concert with "Voi che sapete", the Canzonetta written and sung by Cherubino to the Contessa in Act Two of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. She was smashing, the orchestra was perfect and the Maestro was brandishing his baton like a victorious hero, happily rejoicing in the singer's success. Vojtko returned as soloist in the second part of the concert with "Ich lade gern mir Gaeste ein", from Johann Strauss Junior's operetta The Bat. Mozart stayed on, however, with "Der Hoelle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen", a difficult solo by the Queen of the Night in the second scene of Act Two of his Magic Flute, with some lovely Coloratura beautifully sung by soprano Julia Novikova, a ravishing young Russian vixen with a captivating smile and big blue eyes and a voice leading you to believe opera is not dead but going strong while on the way to a brighter future. Born in St Petersburg, Novikova graduated at the city's State Conservatoire with distinction and performed at the Mariinsky Theatre. She is soloist at the Musiktheater Dortmund, Germany, where she performs main roles in different operas. Novikova returned to the stage with the famous "Indian Bell Song" from Act Two of Leo Delibes' three-act opera Lakme. It is one of the most demanding arias for Coloratura Soprani, yet, nothing seems too demanding for Novikova who gave us a brilliant performance, reaching impossible heights with astounding ease, her voice, like a bell, competing beautifully with the bell of the orchestra. Everybody loved her; and at that moment, everybody loved opera. Novikova returned gain, at the end of the concert's second part, in the role of Olympia, singing "Les oiseaux dans la charmille" from Act Two of Jacques Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann. Soaring onto Olympic heights, she displayed not only consistently beautiful tone, but also stunning versatility. The third Mozart aria "Ach ich liebte" from his Abduction from the Seraglio was sweetly sung by soprano Whal Ran Seo from Seoul: she had all the Schmalz and the nostalgia of the dreaming lover, whilst returning with "O luce di quest'anima" from Act One of Gaetano Donizetti's three-act opera Linda di Chamonix, another song of love by sweet-voiced Whal Ran Seo, who sang Serguey Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" in the concert's second part. That night's audience applauded two Prima Donnas, visibly on their way to fame and glory and to a glowing place in opera's dazzling sun: sopranos Hannah Holgersson from Sweden and Ekaterina Godovanets from Russia. Tall, slender and exceptionally beautiful, both enjoy that extra brilliance essential in the making of an international star. Holgersson seems, however, to be adding the talent of an exquisite "comedienne" to her remarkable vocal qualities. She gave us an excellent Juliette in "Je veux vivre dans le reve" from Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, returning to the concert's second part with "Glitter and be gay", Cunegonde's aria from Leonard Bernsetin's famous musical Candide. There was as much humour as sarcasm in her extraordinary performance. And there was more when she returned with Agnes Vojtko to sing one of the funniest arias in opera's repertoire: Gioacchino Rossini's "funny duet for two cats". Both meet, stare at each other and go "miaou- miaou" through the entire aria. Vojtko, the male and Holgersson, the female, start a "miaou-miaou" fight in the best soprano tunes, while the orchestra plays and the Maestro does his best to conduct his musicians without bursting into laughter. The audience starts giggling when they discover the scene will have nothing but "miaous", hateful ones, angry ones, followed by softer ones and, in the end, when male and female fall in love, their "miaous" turn charmingly tender and filled with chubby warmth. The audience's laughter never ceased as the house came down with screams of joy. They had discovered a new angle to opera: it was, after all, not only drama and "screams" and Bel Canto, it could also be funny, pleasant and congenial, mainly when performed as perfectly as it was that night in Cairo's Main Hall. The second Prima Donna, Ekaterina Godovanets closed the first part of the concert with a most impressive version of Leonara's aria "Pace, pace mio Dio" from Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del Destino while returning in the second part with Elisa's aria "Dich teure Halle gruess ich wieder" from Richard Wagner's three-act opera Tannhaeuse. She gave us brilliance, elegance and beauty as her voice soared across the hall. She was a queen come to conquer, and conquer she did, greeted with loud ovations. A duet and a trio from Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" closed the concert: and all his vocal and instrumental performers were smiling as the house came down.
