Amal Choucri Catta goes Byron Le Corsaire, ballet by Adam, Pugni, Delibes and Drigo, Cairo Opera House Ballet Company, director Abdel-Moniem Kamel, Cairo Opera Orchestra, conductor Taha Nagui, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 4 January When George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron, came back from a 1814 tour of the Mediterranean with his epic poem The Corsair, he set off a ripple effect in the music scene. Hector Berlioz wrote an overture on the subject in 1831, then François Decombe Albert brought the Corsair to the stage of the King's Theatre in London, with a score by Robert Bochsa; Giuseppe Verdi produced a four-act opera in 1848, Adolphe Adam's ballet premiered in 1856... Narrated in heroic couplets, The Corsair is the story of Conrad, a pirate of the Aegean Sea, and Saeed, the Turkish Pasha who tries to attack his stronghold, a lone island. Conrad is forewarned and tries to outwit Saeed, however, infiltrating the latter's fleet first. Paying farewell to his beloved Medora, he goes to the Pasha disguised as a dervish... But Conrad's men launch their attack on Saeed's ships too soon, spoiling the pirate's ruse. In the wrangle that ensues, a wounded Conrad is taken prisoner, having saved the life of Gulnare, favourite of the Pasha's harem, who now falls desperately in love with him. When Conrad is condemned to death, indeed, she manages to put off the execution, bringing him a dagger with which to kill Saeed in his sleep. The pirate's only virtue, chivalry, is offended by the thought; and Gulnare kills the Pasha herself. Back on the island, Medora, believing her lover to have been killed, has already died of grief. By now repelled by Gulnare, who has accompanied him following his escape, Conrad finally departs -- never to be seen again. This ballet was frequently reincarnated. Author of the famed two-act ballet Giselle or the Willis, as well as over 70 operas, Adolphe Adam first set Byron's story to a string of beautiful melodies, which Joseph Maziller choreographed for the Paris opera in 1856. Two years later Jules Perrot staged the Corsair in Russia, adding the slave trader's pas d'ésclave and making use of choreography by Marius Petipa, who in his turn staged the ballet once more in 1863. Le Corsiare was revived five years later, with the enchanted garden scene added, and music by Leo Delibes. Pepita was never to be satisfied by the ballet, however: he added music by Cesare Pugni before reviving it again in 1899, with a new pas-de-deux to music by Riccardo Drigo. Today, with the many variations and additions, Le Corsaire has turned into a colourful three-act ballet -- performed on this occasion to a libretto by Abdel-Moneim Kamel, who transformed the drama into a delightful spectacle, supplementing choreography by Marius Pepita and Vladimir Vladimirov with his own concepts. The result, premiered several years ago, is a successful show -- as successful today, with the excellent ministrations of Taha Nagui's baton, as it was then... Since its original conception, the story has come a long way. It opens with a storm at sea: loud music aids the deadly waves onto the shore, where the pirate's ship is wrecked. On the darkened stage, survivors -- Noureddin, the pirate, his servant Ali and a few seamen -- dance to a beautiful melody while the tranquil beach is gradually lit by sunrise. The girls arrive on their morning stroll, joyful; that is when Jasmine and Gulnare bump into Ali and Noureddin. Alas, their love at first sight is quickly undermined by the arrival of Ahmed, the slave trader, whose whips and soldiers chase the girls into captivity. Tania Svitlychna and Katia Ivanova in the role of Jasmine, Ira Propenko as Gulnare, Ahmed Yehya and Hani Hassan in the role of Noureddin, Rafiq and Ahmed Nabil as Ali, Serguey Bolonsky as Ahmed: all were fabulous soloists, buoyant of gait, light of spirit, their movements executed with agile precision. The audience was duly delighted, getting what they have come to expect of a Abdel-Moneim Kamel spectacle: a colourful, dramatic string of magic tricks. Scene Two, set in the slave market, is reminiscent of A Thousand and One Nights, with the girls dancing gracefully as traders pick and choose. It is the wealthy Saeed Pasha who manages to procure Gulnare. When Jasmine starts dancing it is an Arab trader -- Noureddin in disguise -- who buys her; and the Pasha, who wanted her too, is not pleased. Soon the Pasha's men have kidnapped Jasmine. Noureddin, his identity revealed, forces Ahmed to lead him to Saeed's palace. North African and Levantine dances enliven the scene: the girls seem to have come out of an Arab fairy tale... Sunny, bright colours drift through Saeed's palace, in the next scene; and the Pasha is ordering his servants to bring him the two new slave girls, both of whom reject his gifts and his love. Furious, he leaves the harem just as Noureddin enters the garden with Ahmed. The music swells to dramatic decibels while the guards, bribed, bring them the two girls; and the Pasha makes an abrupt, alarming entry. Promptly, he has the lovers arrested, and this is when the magic garden turns into dream land, with the dancers bearing lit flowers and Jasmine performing an exquisite pas-de-deux with Noureddin. The dance is only a dream, alas: the pirate awakes to the sound of his comrades come to set him free. In the battle that ensues, the pirates manage to set the girls free and finally escaping the palace. They board a ship and, as the curtain falls on the second act, they wave a merry goodbye... In Act Three all is well that ends well: how can it be otherwise in the presence of 40 ravishing dancers, among whom 15 extraordinary soloists exult in their freedom on Pirate's Island, rejoicing with loved ones in a string of marvellous dances. As the curtain falls on the last act, the audience's exuberant ovations echo through the hall and onto the opera's gardens, reflecting the season's festivities. Replacing Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker as a Christmas ballet -- many would have preferred Swan Lake, as previously announced -- Le Corsaire would have come as a disappointment if not for the brilliant performance, which made the change not only acceptable but positively welcome.
