CAIRO - Last Wednesday I went to the circus and… wasn't it the circus? Then it must have been the Cairo Opera House! Anyway I had an inexplicable time. Yes, I really can't explain what happened that evening... neither can anyone! But isn't it great that the Cairo Opera House decided to present something else rather than “Aida”? However, the choice was close – it was another Giuseppe Verdi opera, which was performed a few times here over the past years. Thankfully it wasn't “Rigoletto”, which they present twice a week. This time they chose “Un Ballo in Maschera” (A Masked Ball). Before the review, let me tell you a couple of things about this work. It's the three-act opera Verdi composed using Antonio Somma's libretto, which was inspired by a true story – you see, the King of Sweden, Gustav III, was shot dead in a masked ball and the plot was built around this story. Nevertheless, names and some of the details were changed – minor things like America instead of Sweden and Count Riccardo instead of King Gustav. The opera premiered in 1859. I attended the premiere… NO, NOT THE ONE IN THE 19TH CENTURY… I mean the first of four performances held last week. On that evening, the roles were played by soprano Iman Mustafa (Amelia), tenor Francesco Paccorini (Riccardo), soprano Ingy Mohsen (Oscar), baritone Mustafa Mohamed (Renato), mezzo Jolie Faizy (Ulrica), bass baritone Abd Al-Wahab Al-Sayed (Tom), baritone Ramez Labbad (Samuel), bass baritone Emad Adel (Silvano), tenor Ragaa El-Din Ahmed (Magistrate) and tenor Ibrahim Nagui (Page). The Cairo Opera Orchestra was conducted by Nayer Nagui, the Cairo Opera Choir was coached by Aldo Magnato and the opera was directed by Abdulla Saad. A “Bravo” goes out the orchestra as expected when it's conducted by the superb Nayer. I must say that the choir did a very good job too. The backdrops and settings were very impressive. Ballet dancers didn't synchronise their steps together all the time, which is something we got used to. The Best Singer Award goes to three and not one – Jolie, Ingy and Francesco. The singing/acting of most of those who played the minor roles was fine, but frankly I wasn't pleased with Mustafa's singing at all. As for Iman, she was the one I was thinking of when I used the term “inexplicable”. I couldn't understand what she was doing and still can't figure out her singing technique. Of course, when I think of Amelia – the role she played – and how men were fighting over her, I can't help but wonder “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING WHEN THEY CHOSE HER?” Blame it all on the casting committee. Instead of a normal review, I decided to add my own touch to the story and the end result goes like this… Many people are at Riccardo's house as he goes through the list of guests invited to a masked ball he is throwing. Naturally, this list includes the woman he loves, Amelia. There is one minor problem – she is married… and to his friend Renato. Now we know that Riccardo is a creep! Renato arrives and warns Riccardo from a conspiracy against him, but Riccardo refuses to listen. Then Riccardo gets a complaint against the fortune-teller Ulrica, who is accused of witchcraft. The judge wants her to be banished, but Oscar defends her. Being the kind-hearted weasel he is, Riccardo decides to check the matter out personally and tells court members to disguise and meet him at Ulrica's place in the evening. What do we have next? Ulrica practises her magic. Riccardo arrives and tries to convince everyone that Ulrica has real powers. He hides when he realizes that Amelia is here… I think he wanted to avoid her singing. I can't blame the poor man. Anyway, it takes such singing to scare the witch. Amelia shatters Ulrica's eardrums with her screaming, which is supposed to reveal her love for Riccardo. So she married but loves another man… What do people call a female weasel? Ulrica tells her to get some magical herbs that are good for her vocal chords… or maybe to help her calm down. At midnight, the scary Amelia goes to a spooky place to get the herbs. While at it, she spooks us with her singing. That's what support is all about – if Amelia is going to suffer, then we have to suffer too! Of course Riccardo is there. Apparently he is into horror movies! He appears and they declare their love for each other. Can we go home now? No… not before Renato arrives! Amelia covers her face because she was embarrassed of her performance… or maybe because she didn't want her husband to recognise her. The poor guy is here to warn Riccardo that the conspirators are after him and that his life is in danger... just like our ears! Riccardo leaves, with an overdose of Amelia's singing, but before he does he makes Renato promise to take the woman back to town and turn her over to the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, without asking her identity… the military people have their ways of knowing. Enter the conspirators and draw their swords at Renato. Amelia's veil drops and a thrilled Renato assumes that Amelia and Riccardo have been doing something naughty, which means he might get rid of her soon. Congratulations Renato... we are very happy for you. He asks conspiracy leaders, Samuel and Tom, to meet him on the next day... that will be last Thursday. Renato thinks about killing Amelia. Trust me buddy, you should have done that a long time ago – at least before the performance. You could have saved us all the agony. Amelia claims she's innocent and Renato changes his mind. I think he had an offer from Gaddafi to sell him Amelia as a weapon of mass destruction. Well, he wants to kill someone anyway so he decided to kill Riccardo. Tom and Jerry … I mean Tom and Samuel arrive and Renato asks to join their plot to kill Riccardo. They draw lots to decide who will do the killing and the winner is... Renato. Oscar arrives with invitations to the masked ball. That's interesting I bet Renato, Tom and Samuel will want to kill the weasel there. Yes, they do. On the other hand, Riccardo, after therapy, decides to leave Amelia and send her with Mr. Amelia, her husband, back to England. Ball time… let's dance! Renato learns from Oscar what costume Riccardo is wearing. As the latter is telling Amelia about his decision and just before she bites his neck, Renato stabs him. With his dying breath Riccardo says that Amelia was faithful to her husband, pardons all the conspirators and dies. However, Amelia didn't eat him! Can we go home now? Send me ear plugs to: [email protected]
