CAIRO - After a long absence, the Cairo Opera Company has presented one of the world's greatest operatic works, Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). The Egyptian troupe did us proud. A good understanding of Verdi's masterpiece, as well as the efforts of operatic director Abdallah Saad, set designer Mahmoud Haggag and lighting designer Yasser Shaalan, resulted in something very impressive. Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball), an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma, first premiered on Apollo Theatre in Rome in 1859. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugèène Scribe, who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden. The subject was well known and had been used by other composers, including Daniel Auber, for his 1833 opera, Gustave III ou Le Bal Masquéé, and later by Saverio Mercadante for his Il Reggente in 1843. Un Ballo in Maschera revolves around Riccardo, Governor of Boston at the end of the 17th century, who falls in love with Amelia, wife of Renato, his secretary and intimate friend. Amelia returns Riccardo's love, but is discovered by her husband. At a masked ball Renato kills Riccardo, who, as he lies dying, declares Amelia's innocence and forgives Renato. One of the best scenes was the second scene of Act One, when the movements and singing of everyone on stage were excellent, with the déécor, lights and music adding to the magical atmosphere. There is a lot of ballet dancing in Verdi's work. Although the dances were not very expressive and the movements were repetitive, they were still well performed. What contributed much to our visual amusement were the costumes, designed by Marina Martzenko, and the make-up by Ahmed Fekry that suited both the actions and the characters. From a musical point of view, Un Ballo in Maschera is Verdi's greatest work, with the tragedy and comedy, lightness, drama and humour perfectly balanced in a brief yet intense way. Although it was the first time for Nayer Nagui to conduct this work, he was able to hold everything together, especially in the introductory music, the part about the conspiracy and the love story between Amelia and the ruler. The singing of Amelia's song, ‘Morro, ma prima in grazia' (I will die, but I want one last request), was marvellous, enhanced by the solo cello accompaniment in Act Three. In the same act, the music was heard intermittently in the background, as Riccardo anticipates his final meeting with Amelia. The orchestra then swelled up to cover the off-stage band music. The wonderful performance of Oscar's teasing song, ‘Saper vorreste' (To know what you want), was also wonderfully performed, accompanied by the orchestra, but regrettably without a piccolo. Some of the Egyptian and foreign singers were better than others. Francesco Paccorini did very well in Act One with his song ‘La rivdra nell' estasi', as did Elena Baramova in her recitative and aria, ‘Ma dall'arido'. The witch, Ulrica, was played by Jolie Faizy and Hala el-Shaboury. Their voices were very appropriate, while the clarinet accompaniment added to the mysterious flavour. Many other performers must also be applauded: Eman Moustafa, Ingy Mohsen and Rasha Talaat (sopranos); Walid Korayem, Ibrahim Naggui and Ragaa Eddin Ahmed (tenors); Moustafa Mohamed, Ramez Labbad, Elhamy Amin and Ezzat Ghanem (baritones); and Abdel-Wahab el-Sayyed and Emad Adel (bass-baritones) I loved this magnificent work of Verdi's. Meanwhile, we need is more talented youngsters like Ragga Eddin Ahmed to take on leading roles. Cairo Opera House has hidden treasures, which needs to be discovered. I blame officials of the Cairo Opera company for not being aware of the musical and artistic value of this work. If they were, they would have better publicised and marketed this work, which deserved a far bigger audience. [email protected]
