Amal Choucri Catta ponders on fortune Carmina Burana and Bolero, Cairo Opera Ballet and Orchestra, conductor Nader Abbassi, with A- Capella Choir, choreographer Abdel-Moneim Kamel. Main Hall, Cairo Opera House; 15, 16 & 17 February Fortune was not fickle on opening night, nor on any other of the three nights Cairo Opera Ballet Company presented Carmina Burana and Bolero. There were, as often, a few changes undertaken: Carmina Burana came on with three vocal soloists instead of the four generally expected, and vocal solos were as a consequence reduced in number. These and other changes, however, went mostly unnoticed by the audience who praised the visual, instrumental and vocal performances of the entire ensemble. Carmina Burana is not often presented as a ballet: Erminia and Abdel-Moneim Kamel's version is particularly valued for its solemnity and impressive serenity. Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, originally a scenic cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra, was composed in 1936 and presented at Frankfurt Opera House on 8 June 1937, under Bertil Wetelsberger: since then it has become an international success. When the cantata was first produced Orff disowned all his previous works, though some were later revised and restored. From then on he composed exclusively for the stage, though not conventionally: Carmina Burana, for example, is usually given in a concert version. His mature style is dry and staccato, with much use of percussion while the content of the music is based on rhythmic patterns and their variations. Harmony is reduced to basic elements and melody is nearer to rhythmic speech than to the expressive ideal of other composers. Carmina Burana is the first part of a triptych, followed by Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. Regularly performed at Cairo Opera House the cantata was presented last week, for three nights, by Cairo Opera Orchestra and A-Capella Choir, conducted by Nader Abbassi, with soloists and dancers of Cairo Opera Ballet Company adding the visual element to the extraordinary vocal and musical performances. The music came on pianissimo before developing into the brilliant chorus while the opening curtain revealed a backdrop of blue and green hues with a design of sinuous lines reminiscent of flowing waters, of fluctuating fortunes. As the dancers advanced, their steps evoking a solemn ritual, the music took over with a steadfast, regular beat. Fortuna was empress of the world, though in their song the choir bemoans her wounds. Fortune being a perfidious lady, insidiously tempting and faithlessly perverse, the dancers' black ribbons seemed to be evoking her treachery. However, with the awakening of Spring and the choir singing Primo Vere, ribbons turned green and colours bright. The singers hailed The Merry Face of Spring and the "sun bringing warmth to the universe". The corps-de-ballet was sent on a joyful spree with the third song, while on his podium in the orchestra pit Nader Abbassi seemed to have been won over to festive mood: every bar vibrated with life and his polished control over orchestra, choir and dancers kept audiences spellbound. Carmina Burana: Cantiones Profanes, one of the most popular musical masterpieces of the 20th century, is of simple, though admittedly colourful orchestration, with rhythmic ostinato figures repeated over static harmonies and a number of percussive effects highlighting the text's accents. The work opens and closes with the same solemn chorus, its massive pounding depicting the inexorable turning of fortune's wheel. The 25 movements are arranged into three large sections: Primo Vere, Spring, evokes the awakening of the earth after Winter. It starts quietly, quickening gradually, until the blazing end. The second part, In the Tavern, evokes a different mood: the backdrop turns red and the abstract design echoes the twists and turns of destiny, while the dancers twirl turbulently and the choir sings Burning Inside. The tenor, Hisham El-Guindy, tells the tale of the roasting swan, noting that one may be a lovely bird today and a roast on a spit tomorrow. El- Guindy's timbre is agreeable and his high pitch comes easily: he is a beginner and needs some coaching in movement and acting. The third and final section, Court of Love, presents 10 songs in varied moods: brief ones and longer ones, depicting the phases of love, of joy and sorrow, of pleasure and confused uncertainty. The choir sings to Aphrodite, goddess of love: Veni, Veni, Venias, followed by Ave Formosissima resound recklessly around the packed hall. Baritone Mustafa Mohamed, often applauded on the opera's Main Stage, and soprano Mona Rafla gave a brilliant performance while the dancers performed tender pas-de-deux or merrily leapt for love. It was in spring 1934 that the young German music educator and composer, Carl Orff, discovered a collection of poems originally dating from the 13th century. The poems had been property of the Roman Abbey of Benediktbeuren in Bavaria, before being transferred to Munich's royal library and published in 1847 under the title Carmina Burana. Sacred and secular, they hail the beauty of nature, the earthly pleasures of eating, drinking, dancing and gambling while mainly evoking the fickleness of fortune. Singers, instrumentalists and conductors seem always to be in the best of moods when performing the piece and last week was no exception: on each of the three nights the curtain came down on animated cheers. The second part of the show was dedicated to Erminia Kamel, who created Maurice Ravel's Bolero for Cairene audiences several years ago and has remained its star-performer ever since. Bolero is a Spanish dance in simple triple time, introduced around 1780, whereas Ravel's "Bolero" is a one-act ballet, choreographed by Bronislava Nijinskaya, sister of Nijinsky. She created many roles in Diaghilev ballets and worked for the Paris Opera, for the Ida Rubinstein Ensemble and other important companies, including Covent Garden. Nijinskaya choreographed Bolero for Ida Rubinstein, produced in November 1928 at Paris Opera House. The ballet has been choreographed by, among others, Serge Lifar in 1941 and Maurice Bejart in 1961. The music itself consists of a simple theme in unvarying rhythm, repeated sixteen times in a gradual crescendo, augmenting the instrumentation at each repetition. The result is a powerful orchestral crescendo that exerts a fascination among audiences. The music, however, breaks away from its pattern once, near the very end, moving abruptly into E-major. The trance is thus broken, allowing the work to end shortly, after returning to its original C-major. The choreography is demanding, keeping the prima-ballerina in a constant solo movement on a high, circular podium, with 28 male dancers sitting leisurely on wooden chairs waiting for their cues. They were not always 28: they grew as years went by, according to the vision of choreographer-director Abdel-Moneim Kamel. Their staccato movements and slow gestures, in harmony with the rhythmic beat, are in striking contrast with the voluptuous motions of the female soloist in black tights and skin-coloured top. Lights played an important part in this dance: starting in the dark, with spots fixed on the ballerina's hands, lights worked themselves up her arms and onto her body before making their way to the podium and to the entire stage. Erminia Kamel was her usual self: she is a ballerina by vocation, visibly in love with ballet. Nader Abbassi offered a superb demonstration of virtuosity conducting Bolero, leading the obsessive masterpiece to an exciting end, while inevitably bringing the house down.
