Taking her cue from the 38th anniversary of its demise, Salonaz Sami seeks out memories of Cairo's original Opera House "What the Royal Opera House meant to my generation is something that cannot be communicated very easily. It meant a kind of discipline, good behavior, something your generation is unfortunately not familiar with." So opines one senior political writer, Sami Mansour. His views reflect a widespread sense of that long-lost landmark -- the first ever of its kind in either Africa or the Middle East -- as "a jewel of high culture". Built in 1869 on the order of Khedive Ismail to celebrate the official opening of the Suez Canal, the Opera was part of a general programme to turn Cairo into a replica of Paris, which largely worked. The opening of the Canal on 29 November 1869, an incredibly high-profile event with some of the world's most important monarchs and dignitaries showing up, was accompanied by a performance of Verdi's Rigoletto in lieu of Aida -- commissioned for the occasion. The latter premiered on 24 December 1871 to resounding success; Verdi's fee for Aida, it is worth noting, was 15,000 gold franks, while another 25,000 went to costumes and sets; the scenario had been written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, the founder of the Egyptian Museum, while Antonio Ghislanzoni provided the Italian libretto. Modelled on the Paris Opera House, which was designed by Italian architects Afoskoni and Rossi, the Khedivial Opera was located on Ibrahim Pasha Square, still known as Opera Square, a strategic spot at the heart of Cairo. The construction, which involved large amounts of wood -- the factor that made for its downfall much later -- cost LE160,000 and took six months to complete; the auditorium could seat 850 people. Mansour remembers that, in the good old days, going there was something you built up to -- an occasion to dress well and be on your best behaviour. There would be some of the world's best musical performances, and the experience of the square itself: "Out of respect for the Opera you never heard a horn being blown -- and everything sparkled." Mohamed Idris, a very old jeweller whose shop is near where the old Opera once stood, remembers that the building was made up of three floors, respectively for the performance hall, equipment and storage; it also featured a museum of jewellery used in performances. "The place had amazingly decorated rest rooms and smoking rooms," Mansour recalls. "Nor was it all about classical music. Some of the most talented Egyptian artists -- George Abyad, Salama Hegazy, and Salah Mansour -- made appearances as well." This would have been the early 20th century. Fast forward to 28 October 1971, when the nation woke up to some shocking news. "We woke up choking," one resident of the area told the Weekly, "so much smoke was coming out of the building." The Opera had been more or less totally consumed. According to Idriss, "It was said that a fault in the wiring sparked it." Whatever its cause, as Mansour puts it, the fire of the Opera was "a national disaster" that gave way to general distress. Of all the building's contents, moreover -- not only stage sets, costumes and accoutrements but art works and musical instruments -- nothing was saved except for a model of the building (now kept in the new Opera House) and two statues by Mohamed Hassan, representing welfare and art renaissance, as Mansour explains. Made in 1948 and located at the entryway, the statues were kept at the Tali'a Theatre until the new Opera House was opened. They are, in Mansour's words, "a link between the two operas" since they keep the memory of the old Opera fresh: "It's as if they survived for a reason." It had been 17 years since the burning of the old Opera when President Hosni Mubarak and Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, the younger brother of the Japanese Emperor, inaugurated the new Cairo Opera House on 10 October 1988. There were two performances to mark the occasion: a patriotic song composed by Egypt's top musician Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab, and a Japanese Kabuki performance. "This," comments Mansour, "makes Egypt the only country in the region to build two opera houses within one century." There was a reason for the presence of Prince Tomohito. The new Opera, or the National Cultural Centre as it is officially known, was built with the help of the Japan International Co- operation Agency, the seven-storey building, furnished with high- tech audio-visual equipment, being the product of a cooperation between Egyptian and Japanese architects. And calling it another landmark would be no exaggeration: built in a charming neo-classical style, the Opera houses three theatres (the Main, Small and Open-Air Halls, seating 1,200, 350 and 600 people, respectively) as well as rehearsal halls, a fine arts centre, a library and a museum. The latter has two wings: one is dedicated to the old Opera and shows photos of the building including some taken on the night it burned down, as well as of performances. It also contains documents and notation pertaining to Aida and an archive of information on artists who performed at the Royal Opera. For its part the library has a huge collection of music and musical books. It took four years to build the new Opera on the Nile island of Gezira, surrounded by cultural centres: the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art, the Plastic Artists' Association, and the Hanger Theatre. Generally regarded as one of the world's most prestigious operas in the world, it boasts the most sophisticated technical facilities in the Middle East and Africa. Most importantly, perhaps, the entire building is fire-proof. Affiliated to the Cairo Opera House are ten ceaselessly active ensembles: the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Cairo Opera Orchestra, the Cairo Ensemble, National Ensemble of Arabic Music, the Children's Choir, the Cairo Opera Ballet, the Modern Dance Company, Orchestra Amadeus and the Religious Chanting Group.
