Amal Choucri Catta enjoys a Sicilian tale set in Upper Egypt "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "I Pagliacci" by Cairo Opera Company, director Asmaa El-Bakry, with Cairo Opera Orchestra, conductor Nader Abbassi and Cairo Opera Choir, director Aldo Magnato. Venue: Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, 22 to 30 June, 9pm. Night was casting velvet shadows on Cairo Opera House's Main Hall as the curtain rose to the tunes of a love song Turiddu was crooning to Lola. The lovers' silhouettes were suddenly reflected on a lighted window of one of the top floors of Lola's residence while Santuzza, the young peasant girl, appeared on the deserted streets. She had seen the lovers' reflection and was overcome by sadness. As daylight broke on stage, audiences discovered, with delight or dismay, that Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, they had come to applaud, was not Sicilian but Sa'idi (Upper Egyptian). Asmaa El-Bakry, director of the spectacle, had transferred the plot from the south of Italy to the South of Egypt, granting her transplant perfectly selected sets, such as the local coffee-house with its small wicker-and- wooden chairs, or the white-washed dovecotes with their dark pigeonholes and the small Coptic church, reminiscent of terra-cotta objects of interest. The backdrop, filled with greenery and palm-trees, as well as certain houses on either side of the stage and the performers' costumes -- though not essentially Sa'idi -- were of Egyptian origin. The plot, however, and the heroes' names, likewise the quantity of wine and Turiddu's Brindisi, remained absolutely Sicilian. On opening night, Cairo Opera was "premiering" two operas to be henceforth added to the local repertoire: Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggiero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci. Presented in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute, the Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by Nader Abbassi, and Cairo Opera's Choir directed by Aldo Magnato, the two operas featured Egyptian singers: Iman Mustafa, Jehane Fayed, Mona Rafla and Taheya Shamseddin, as well as Mustafa Mohamed, Jala El-Hadidi, Hala El-Shaboury, Jehane El-Nasser, Walid Korayem and Elhamy Amin, with the participation of the excellent Italian tenor Mario Leonardi respectively in the role of Turiddu and Canio, and baritone Alfio Grasso in the role of Cavalleria 's Alfio and Pagliacci 's Tonio. As Cavalleria Rusticana 's story goes, the young peasant girl, Santuzza, seduced by Turiddu, is distraught when she finds he has deserted her in favour of Lola, wife of the drover Alfio. Before leaving for his military service, Turiddu and Lola had been lovers, but the hot-blooded maiden could not wait for her sweetheart's return. She married Alfio, and when Turiddu's military days were over, he was saddened to see she belonged to another man. He therefore decided to marry Santuzza, but Lola would not leave him alone. Santuzza asked Turiddu to remain with her: " Turiddu rimani, rimani ancora " she sang while he pushed her away. She swore revenge, telling Alfio what she had seen in the early morning hours. Furious, Alfio left the stage. At this moment, with one part of the performers in church and the other elsewhere, the stage is generally left empty for the famous symphonic "Intermezzo" played by the orchestra. Unfortunately, however, and for no relevant reason, the curtain came down on opening night and on each of the four following nights. Assuming this was an interval and without taking the beauty of the music into consideration, members of the audience started to leave the hall. As they discovered, however, that the plot was not over yet, they resumed their seats, while on stage the choir came out of church singing: " A casa, a casa, amici ", with Turiddu drinking abundantly and hailing "the ruby wine now flowing". He had been challenged by Alfio to a duel and was finally killed off stage. The idea of turning Cavalleria Rusticana into a Sa'idi plot is rather eccentric, though quite charming. It is, however, difficult to imagine a Sa'idi singing "ruby wine, so richly gleaming and in crimson joy is beaming", while drinking black tea in a "local" coffee-house. Nevertheless, tenor Mario Leonardi's voice was magnificent, his presence impressive and his general performance brilliant. Soprano Iman Mustafa was on for three nights as Santuzza, a part too small for her dramatic timbre and her tragic interpretation. She was cast respectively with Jehane Fayed who has not been seen on the opera's stage for some time and who was a most welcome Santuzza, with her lovely voice and her charmingly spontaneous personality. Mezzo-soprano Jala El-Hadidi in the role of Lola has a beautiful timbre, though she should be getting more help with regard to her movements and her general presence on stage. Hala El-Shaboury as Lola was quite convincing, whereas Jehane El-Nasser, cast as mother Lucia, was somewhat disappointing. It must be said that Cairo opera's singers are in dire need of better coaching, not only with regard to their general performance, but also with regard to their breathing technique, their expression, elocution, diction and their movements and gestures on stage. Most of them do not know what to do with their hands: their gestures are often wrong, meaningless or non- existent. Ruggiero Leocavallo's I Pagliacci was written at about the same time as Mascagni's Cavalleria : the two have therefore always been virtually paired. Both are originally set in rural Italian villages, and both being about passionate love and violent revenge, explore themes of jealousy and infidelity among ordinary people. Originally laid in Calabria, I Pagliacci 's scene, with its prologue and its clowns, has, once again been transferred to Upper Egypt, with Nedda, Canio, Tonio and the others remaining as they were in their northern surroundings. As in the prologue of ancient Greek tragedy, Tonio comes forward during the prelude, explaining that the subject of the play is taken from real life and that the composer has devoted himself to "expressing the sentiment, good or bad, but always human, of the characters he introduces, without commenting on their social condition". There was no relevant difference between the landscapes of the two operas: backdrop, houses and greenery, even the horse, the cart and the costumes were the same, which gave audiences the impression of déjà vu. Sopranos Mona Rafla and Taheya Shamseddin were both enchanting, though Rafla was more convincing. Tenor Walid Korayem was given the lion's share as Canio, sung only once by Mario Leonardi, while Alfio Grasso shared the part of Tonio the hunchback with Hatem El-Guenedy, and Mustafa Mohamed was cast as Silvio, respectively with Elhamy Amin. Once again we had jealousy represented by Canio, Nedda's husband who discovers his wife's infidelity, without being able to know the identity of her lover. Once again we had vengeance represented by Tonio the hunchback who tries to seduce Nedda who scorns him violently. And once again, we had death: this time, however, on stage, with the husband stabbing his wife and her lover and then uttering "the comedy is over" while the curtain falls. It must be said that this second opera was rather long and of no great interest: having applauded Cavalleria Rusticana, audiences were not ready for another spectacle of the same caliber. The music, however, in both cases, was perfect, Nader Abbassi succeeded in adding colour to a rather colourless show. His orchestra was soaring on the loveliest of tunes, bringing warmth and beauty and lots of nostalgia into the somewhat macabre plot. The same can be said of the choir: in both cases excellent. The last performance took place on 30 June, closing this season with an overdose of passionate themes. Audiences would have appreciated fresher tones in these hot summer days.
