Amal Choucri Catta finds the revived Magic Flute moving in the right direction The Magic Flute, Mozart, Cairo Opera Company, Choir and Orchestra, cond Nader Abbassi. Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 17-21 June, 9pm Since her first appearance on Cairo Opera's main stage, in January of last year, a few welcome changes have been observed in the mysterious realm of Mozart's Queen of the Night, heroine of the Magic Flute, the two- act opera based on a libretto by Emmanuel Schickaneder which was revived from 17 to 21 June. Audiences are by now familiar with the badly designed yellow-and- brown curtain showing the Giza Pyramids to the Southeast and the Southern temples to the North, while an un-Hapi River Nile meanders through non-existent geographical spaces. But then no one is likely to be concentrating on geography as Nader Abbassi conducts Cairo Opera Orchestra and the musicians tackle Mozart's overture. The curtain rises on last year's monoliths, the remnants of hieroglyphic designs still visible on their battered surfaces, the huge sign-post directing lonely tavellers to cities old and new, the rotating underground temple and the long tube, a symbolic mountain-top, where the Konigin der Nacht will appear to her three ladies and to Tamino. The tube, however, is too high, and when the queen reaches the top her elaborate crown will touch the upper black curtain, which isn't such an enticing prospect. She is, furthermore, in need of more lights, not the bright yellowish of the sun, but the cold blue of the moon for she is, after all, Queen of the Night. This production of the Magic Flute overdoses on kitsch. Director Christian Rath, sets and costumes designer Susanna Boehm and lighting designer Markus Holdermann seem to have been at a loss in conceiving how Mozart's most important opera might be presented on the Egyptian stage. Luckily Abdallah Saad, Jihane Morsi and Hesham El-Ally have come up with some welcome changes. Tenor Georges Wanis is once again the young price from far away places who suddenly finds himself in the realm of the evil queen: he wears the same nondescript attire as last year and faints when he sees the immense snake around its trainer's neck. This snake was very much alive and visibly ready for mischief, but so was its trainer, an energetic lady in black tights, who swung the huge reptile around her neck with extraordinary ease before vanishing back into Sarastro's abode. On opening night, just as on all other nights, Wanis was often applauded. A brilliant performer with a glorious voice, he did seem somewhat detached at times: like a stranger to the entire drama, he had no real contact with certain plot sequences. Awaking from his swoon, Tamino discovers Papageno, the queen's bird catcher, an amusing knave wonderfully interpreted by young baritone Elhamy Amin, who is visibly enjoying the act and the song and stops at nothing to hear the audience giggle. He is a charming liar, a huge eater and drinker and admirer of damsels, telling Tamino that he was the one who saved him from the snake's bite. That is when the queen's three ladies return; they had already seen Tamino lying unconscious on the sand, and having decided he was the "fairest of youths" each one wanted to stay with him. Now they have come to take the birds' cages from Papageno and to punish him for his lies. But he is busy serenading a turtle dove that flew in from the wings and landed on his shoulder. The three ladies -- soprano Mona Rafla and mezzo-sopranos Hanan El-Guindy and Jolie Faizy -- turned in marvellous performances on opening night, as did the three youngsters: soprano Jacqueline Rafik and Ingy Mohsen and mezzo- soprano Jala El-Hadidi. This time, however, the three ladies had changed their costumes: their long dark robes were more suitable than the eccentric garments they wore last year. The three ladies' second cast -- Sarah Enani, Jehane El-Nasser and Hala El-Shaboury -- are ample evidence that Cairo Opera House has a growing pool of talent on which to draw. This time Nashwa Ibrahim, a lovely soprano, was once again cast as Papagena, the female bird- catcher, as funny as her beloved Papageno. The happy couple gave us a charming duet in Act Two, singing "Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Papageno...What a joy we now shall feel when the gods their gifts reveal, little boys and girls galore, all we want and many more..." which may well have raised the eyebrows of any family planners present. Pamina, the queen's daughter, was beautifully interpreted by two of the opera's celebrated senior sopranos, Taheya Shams El-Din and Nevine Allouba: their brilliant voices soared to fascinating heights, with Nevine Allouba adding her performing talent to her vocal achievements. Reda El-Wakil was an excellent narrator and Terry Cook a ravishing Sarastro. He is one of the most famous bass-baritones of the last 20 years, performing at the Metropolitan, La Scala, Paris Bastille, Munich, Berlin and other celebrated venues. The queen of the night was once again performed by soprano Rasha Talaat, somewhat better than last year, thanks to technical help and to the watchful assistance of Abbassi. She shared the role with Isabella Fayed, a vibrant young soprano on her way to a place in the sun. The choir was perfect. Aldo Magnato, as always, is an excellent choir master. There is brilliance and gaiety on the surface of Mozart's music, but beneath a dark vein of melancholy flows, giving his works a fascinating and provocative ambivalence. The range of his genius is bewildering, so much so that any concise summing up of his achievement must risk being trite. His sense of form and symmetry seems to have been innate and was allied to an infallible craftsmanship, which was partly learned and partly instinctive. In his operas he not only displayed hitherto unequalled dramatic feeling, but widened the boundaries of the singers' art with some of the greatest voices of his day. It is said that, with his amazing insight into human nature, at once perceptive and detached, he created characters on the stage that may be claimed, in their context, as the equal of Shakespeare's. His music, which combines French, Austrian, Italian and German elements, changed the course of the symphony, the concerto, the string quartet, the sonata and even the opera. Mozart must, however, have had a particular sympathy for the Orient in general and Egypt in particular. Among the 21 operas he composed 12, including The Shepherd King and Idomeneo, are set in Mediterranean countries, while three -- the unfinished Goose of Cairo, Thamos, King of Egypt and The Magic Flute take place in Egypt. The two latter are to a large extent inspired by Jean Terasson's novel Sethos, based on Masonic ideals, rules and regulations. In both works we discover two passionate, evil women -- the Flute's queen of the night and Thamos's Mirza -- trying to put an end to the lives of the masters of good deeds -- Sarastro and Sethos -- while Pamina and Sais are, respectively, innocent victims of wicked rulers. That Mozart was attracted to Freemasonry and a Freemason himself is no secret. The Magic Flute is heavily influenced by Masonic rites, such as purification, probation and penance. Thus, in the last scene of Act One, the Grand Priest Sarastro asks his followers to "lead these two strangers to our temple of probation, cover their heads, for they must first be purified". Accordingly, two priests cover the eyes of Tamino and Papageno, who have been asked to keep the oath of silence, while they are being led to the temple of wisdom. In Act Two the repeated appearance and disappearance of Sarastro, his speaker and the priests, as well as the formation of circles, the purification by fire and water, the struggle against evil animals, all allude to Masonic rites. The architecture of Masonic Lodges, generally similar to the interior of ancient Egyptian temples, both feature in Mozart's two Egyptian operas. Christian Rath's version of the Flute, though, has been largely watered down to a childish farce, replete with all kinds of flies, grasshoppers, scarabs, beetles and other humanised winged insects taking part in the trials before disappearing into oblivion. Perfect replicas of the originals, these insects are beautifully executed and their dances are often quite funny: choreographer Erminia Kamel is to thank for their amusing performance. They do bring a smile, though quite what part these insects really play in the trials of the two heroes is far from clear. Rath turns Mozart's clear intentions into an ambiguous, chaotic situation. Director Abdallah Saad did his best to bring about a few changes to salvage the plot: they have been appreciated by all. And Mozart's music made up for the rest: Nader Abbassi and his orchestra managed with aplomb.
