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Cairo Opera
House
The Cairo
Opera House (Arabic:
دار
الأوبرا
المصرية;
Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya; literally "Egyptian Opera House"),
part of Cairo's National
Cultural Center, is the main performing arts venue in
the Egyptian capital.
Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is located on the
southern portion of Gezira Island
in the Nile River, in
the Zamalek district
west of and near downtown
Cairo.
History
The opera house
was inaugurated on October 10, 1988. The
funds for the complex were a gift from the nation of
Japan to Egypt as a result
of President Hosni
Mubarak's visit to Japan in April 1983.
Construction began in May 1985 and lasted for three
years.
In October
1988, President Mubarak and Prince
Tomohito of Mikasa, the
younger brother of the Japanese Emperor, inaugurated the National
Cultural Centre Cairo Opera House. It was the first time for Japan
to stage a Kabuki show, a
traditional popular drama with singing and dancing,
in Africa or
the Arab World.
In
recognition of the Cairo Opera House, the London
Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra chose it as
a venue for their first performance in the Middle East and Africa
in January 2007
Khedivial Opera
House
In
1869, Khedive Ismail
gave instructions to build an opera
house to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. It was
called Khedivial (Royal) Opera House and was meant as a lasting and
outstanding symbol of the arts of drama and music. Designed
by Italian architects
Avoscani and Rossi, the opera
house was completed in six months, in the center of Cairo near
the Azbakeya district.
The Khedive
commissioned a performance which would reflect the ancient Egyptian
history. French archaeologist Auguste Mariette Bey, in the
Khedive’s service, wrote a plot which eventually served the
respected Italian librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni as a basis for
his libretto. Giuseppe Verdi
was appointed to compose the music. The
result was the famous opera, Aida, with its
heroic quality, powerful dramatic scenes and its passionate
music.
Because of
delays caused by the Franco-Prussian war, the sets and costumes for
the premiere of Aida could not be transported from Paris in
time, and in 1869 the Opera House opened instead with
Verdi's Rigoletto,
one of Verdi's earlier masterpieces. Aida would receive its world premiere in
Cairo in 1871. Contrary to general belief, Aida was not commissioned for the
inauguration of the Suez Canal.
The
Khedivial Opera House was the first on the African continent to
perform world famous operas and symphonic
masterpieces.
A
little over a century later, in the early morning of October 28,
1971, the great Khedivial Royal Opera House was completely
destroyed by a fire.
Performance
spaces
- Main Hall: Seats 1,300 people in its
four levels, including orchestra seating, three tiers and a
presidential box. Used for operas and orchestra and ballet
performances
- Small Hall: Seats up to 500 people on a
single floor; used for chamber music and recitals. Can double as a
very large reception hall for important
events.
- Open-air Theatre: Acoustically designed
square shaped stage used for outdoor performances, seats 600
people.
Resident
companies
FROM
WIKIPEDIA
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