Occasional disappointments notwithstanding, Amal Choucri Catta takes stock of a largely happy year in opera It's that time of year again, time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one with its greater or smaller expectations. In Cairo's opera world, new years are invariably promising, though they are sometimes followed by disappointing twists and turns over the course of the following months. This was the case with 2005. The year started off with a broken promise: Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky's long-awaited ballet, suddenly vanished from the programme to be replaced by Adam's less popular Le Corsaire. This disappointment aside, ballet and dance in general were the most regular and successful performances this year. Although Cairo Ballet Company had some difficulties with new ballerinas at the beginning of the year, the problem was solved in the second half of the season, with a number of new names and faces appearing on stage. One of the highlights opening the year's ballet performances last January was undoubtedly the Russian Bashkir Ballet Company presenting Leon Minkus' La Bayadere, while the French Compagnie Fêtes Galantes gave Cairene audiences some dazzling red music pirouettes with Bach's Cantatas covering a range of human experiences, from the holiest to the silliest. It was an unforgettable experience. January also started off with the premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly presented by the opera's company, while extraordinary dance performances continued into February with the fascinating performers of ABC Dance Company from Austria designing words of love to the music of Ligeti and to Shtchedrin's Carmen, and both turning into an overwhelming event. The lady with the red rose returned with interesting excerpts from Bizet's Carmen presented by the Opera Orchestra and Nader Abbassi's ravishing bâton. Though Abbassi did his utmost, the would-be diva performing Carmen was a sad mess, leaving many wondering why she was chosen. Sadly, too, February brought no euphoria, ending with a rather repetitive conception of programming ballet performances: audiences were, once again, given a medley of Le Corsaire, Lorkiana, Bolero and Carmina Burana -- which was too long and too much for any ballet-lover. The 2005 Cairo Opera programme, though at times quite inadequate, with a number of shows cancelled -- such as Verdi's Aida originally planned from 19 March to 7 April in Luxor -- was nevertheless blessed with a plethora of dance and lyric performances. In March, audiences were given six nights of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro in Arabic, a new production of the Cairo Opera House, presenting a number of new young stars. In the same month, too, performers were dancing again to Walid Aouni's meanderings through misfortune and his piano of broken dreams in Clara and the Quicksands. Then came Pushkin and the Khakassian Puppet Theatre Shazka from Siberia presenting a puppet fantasy about fishermen and fish, followed by sequences of Siberian songs and music performed on traditional instruments. Buzukis were playing in April for Theodorakis' Zorba, one of Egypt's best-loved ballets, with Cairo Opera Orchestra and the excellent A Capella choir. Like Aida, Zorba must return "home" every season; he always has a full house, and audiences revel in every minute of the dance and the music. Cairenes also watched Flamenco danced solo on the main stage during a symphonic concert by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. That was an extraordinary night of rare virtuosity: Nina Corti's performance was thrilling, while on his podium the maestro pranced with glee. The main highlights of the season were undoubtedly in April. The three performances of Fire of Anatolia from Turkey that took place that month were the most lavish and phenomenal performances of the year. They remained the talk of the town for many weeks. Opera and ballet performers still danced in May with Walid Aouni's lovely Banat Bahari, coupled with Between Dusk and Dawn, an extraordinary musical composition by Nader Abbassi. In June roses were falling on bloody arenas with Cairo's Ballet Company dancing excerpts from Carmen, Don Quixote and Lorkiana under the watchful eye of the bull on the backdrop. The season closed in June to the tunes of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci : Sicilian tales now set in Trattoria Baladi in Upper Egypt. Summertime and the open air theatre opened with the celebrated Sobhi Bedeir and friends singing under the stars, followed by the much-loved soprano Nevine Allouba and her night of Evergreens. Arabic music was next with many long nights of " Ya leil, ya 'ain " and a super full open air theatre. In September the new season started with the opening of Cairo's 11th International Song Festival at the Opera's Main Hall, while Verdi's Aida received another homecoming for three nights at the same venue. The performances were brilliant, undimmed by an excess of golden trimmings. In September children and adults witnessed Prokofiev's Cinderella performed by the Russian Children's Ballet, while La petite fabrique de France presented the Fables de la Fontaine in an exaggerated, modern conception. Ballet returned, however, with Al-Leila Al-Kebira and Leila Masreya in October. But, while excerpts of one-act ballets should have returned in November, with a repetition of Cavalleria and Pagliacci, audiences were invited instead to a reprisal of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, with new sets and a new director, the Egyptian Abdallah Saad, who did an excellent job. And in December Cairenes applauded a new production of Leon Minkus' Don Quixote. At the beginning of December Cairo Opera House audiences had delighted in Julio Bocca and his Ballet Argentino in a fine version of Alvin Ailey's famous dance "The River" to the music of Duke Ellington's original score. This is a marvelously poetic and often meditative dance which was performed on Cairo's Main Stage around 10 years ago by the Alvin Ailey dance ensemble. The year will end on a high, festive note with a new production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet, to be followed on 31 December with the celebrated New Year's Eve Concert. At this event, usually packed, flowers and Christmas trees decorate the Opera House's Main Hall and confetti pours from the ceiling while the orchestra plays the renowned "Radetzky Marsch." It will be a joyful night, as it has always been since its inauguration by maestro Ahmed El-Saedi who, now elsewhere, will hopefully return to his podium once again in the near future.
