Amal Choucri Catta is moved by a classic tale of doomed love Romeo and Juliet, Cairo Opera Ballet Company, artistic supervisor and director Abdel-Moneim Kamel, artistic director Erminia Kamel, with Cairo Opera Orchestra, cond. Nader Abbassi. Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, 14, 16, 30 November and 1 December, 8pm Last week Cairo Opera presented a long overdue reprisal of Serguey Prokofiev's lovely three-act ballet Romeo and Juliet. With stars like Ahmed Yehia in the role of Romeo, Prima Ballerina Katia Ivanova as Juliet, Hani Hassan as Juliet's cousin Tybalt, Ahmed Nabil as Romeo's friend Mercutio, and Maged Hamdi, Ahmed Saleh and Marina Dergoury, who are all remarkable dancers, the ballet was bound to be a success. The strong choreographic language, the purity of line and sense of space, the sensibility of youth and gentleness of love, as well as the vengeful mood of Tybalt, enhanced by sequences of tragic orchestral power and glowing melodic colours, were particularly fascinating. Cairo Opera Orchestra was beautifully conducted by Nader Abbassi, though the brass did occasionally miss the right tone. The score presenting the Montagues and Capulets musically contains one of Prokofiev's best-known themes, full of elegance and swaggering arrogance. At times the tunes were as light as chamber music, with Kandinsky-like flecks of colour from woodwind and soft percussion. Tybalt's death, on the other hand, was an orchestral showpiece projected on its way with frantic string semiquavers, punctuated by stabbing brass and percussion. The 14 intimidating chords reached a height which, in turn, heralded a brassy climax full of screaming trumpets. The musical score was extremely expressive, beginning with the lyrical introduction up to the overwhelming fortissimo at the opening of the first act as the black curtain, omen of death and damnation, is hurled to the ground while priests softly walk to the chapel for morning prayers. The scene soon changes as audiences are introduced to a charming vision of the market, where the red Capulets and the ochre- green Montagues, forming the corps-de-ballet in lovely costumes, dance to loud rhythms before the fight starts between the two groups. The story of Romeo and Juliet has inspired many works, though the ancient tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe was perhaps the first example of a tragic union where fate is determined by a misunderstanding, an arbitrary discrepancy in timing, a vital meeting that does not take place. It would be difficult to count the number of works of art based on this dramatic scheme: William Shakespeare gave it the most accomplished form, but dance, unfortunately, granted inadequate attention to the tale until the 20th century. It was in the 1930s, with Serguey Prokofiev's score, that the myth made its grand entry into the world of dance. More than 50 ballets have since been choreographed to his music. Furthermore, the symphonic poems by Tchaikovsky and Berlioz have each inspired around a dozen versions and in the last 70 years over 80 different choreographic productions of Romeo and Juliet have been created for the stage. It was in 1934 that the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad commissioned a ballet from the composer Prokofiev, who had just returned to Russia after several years abroad where he had been widely acclaimed. The choice of theme soon fell on Romeo and Juliet but, as difficulties arose with the Kirov, Prokofiev signed a contract with the Bolshoi. His troubles, however, were not over yet, due to the proposed modification of the tragedy's conclusion. It was suggested that a happy ending be tacked on: Juliet would awake just before Romeo commits suicide and all would be well. The factor that finally determined matters was Prokofiev's inability to write sufficiently joyous music for the proposed happy ending. The traditional ending thus remained and Shakespearean death came to the lovers in the tragic finale. The first production was successfully presented by the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1935. With its theatrically perfect structure, alternating populated scenes with intimate encounters, its brilliant colour, dramatic power and inventive orchestration, its magnificent flights of lyricism, its whirlwind of passions, surges of anguish, savage joys and playful festivities, Prokofiev's score could not fail to tempt choreographers. Humorous and original, Prokofiev's genius was not always appreciated in his day. He came from a comfortable background: his father was in business and his mother a talented pianist. Born in 1891, he died in 1958. A child prodigy, he composed his first piece, a Hindu gallop, aged five, and wrote his first opera The Giant, aged nine. He entered the St Petersburg Conservatoire aged 13 and was considered as precociously talented, though his spiky tunes, quirky harmonies and unpredictability were "a step too far". Though regarded as impossibly dissonant and avant-garde in his youth, Prokofiev is now seen as coming in the direct line of Russian composers, embodying the bold and colourful strokes of 19th-century nationalists in a 20th-century style, distinguished by its wit and capacity for dramatic characterisation. When he arrived on the scene the lush romanticism of Rachmaninov and the strange mysticism of Scriabin dominated Russian music. Prokofiev took orthodox chords, changed them in unorthodox ways and used them in unorthodox relations. Sarcasm is often heard in his music: it can even be heard in the clashes of the swords while Romeo is fighting with Tybalt. Prokofiev was, nevertheless, fundamentally a romantic melodist and his style is formed from a reconciliation of the two strains in his personality: the tough modernist, and the lyrical traditionalist. Some of his works have successfully found their way into the repertory of several of the great opera houses and a number of his operas, ballets, concertos, symphonies, choral works and chamber music are considered masterpieces: with Peter and the Wolf he created the most enduring, touching and instructive of young persons' guides to the orchestra. With Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet artistically directed by Erminia Kamel and supervised by Abdel-Moneim Kamel, Cairo Opera Ballet Company is visibly on its way to international fame and glory. The beautiful sets and costumes, the enchanting light and sound effects, the brilliant performances by the soloists and the corps-de-ballet, as well as the marvellous music played by dedicated musicians under the baton of Nader Abbassi, were a great success. One can only hope for more.
