Adieu Violetta
And hello, Don Giovanni, once again. Amal Choucri Catta greets a few welcome changes
Don Giovanni, Cairo Opera Company, orchestra and choir, conductor Ivan Filev, director Walid Aouni, choir master Aldo Magnato. Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, 22 to 24 June, 9pm
Violetta, heroine of Alexandre Dumas' La dame aux camelias and Giuseppe Verdi's three-act opera La Traviata, never found her way back to Cairo's main stage. She was originally scheduled for June last season, but when she failed to appear, due to lack of funds for a new production, she was rescheduled for last month. Alas, once more she failed to appear, and for the same reasons, and though she has been promised for the coming season hopes are waning. She seems to have vanished forever.
Violetta Valery, who was, in fact, Alexandre Dumas's Marguerite Gautier, has always been a much-loved star of the opera's lyric department: her arias are popular, and the general mood of the plot, though sad, is quite beautiful. Which cannot be said of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and which brings one to the question why make promises that cannot be kept? If the lyric department of Cairo's Opera House is incapable of staging scheduled performances, surely it would be better to avoid naming operas and ballets in the yearly programmes only for them to be cancelled or replaced by other shows.
It was Don Giovanni that on 22 to 24 June replaced La Traviata. It had already been presented at the same venue from 7 to 11 May. Though it was clear to all involved that the production was in dire need of a number of changes, the available time was insufficient. Director Walid Aouni could do little but tinker.
This time the evil Don was sung by baritone Mustafa Mohamed, decidedly more convincing than Reda El-Wakil. Blessed with a strong, melodious timbre, Mohamed is a reliable performer, appearing regularly on the Opera's stage. He has climbed the ladder to fame at a rather slow pace, though by now has starred in Aida, Un ballo in maschera, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Tosca, Turandot and Madame Butterfly, as well performances of Georges Bizet's Carmen and Pecheurs de perles, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Jules Massenet's Thais. Mohamed also performed in Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow and in musicals such as Les miserables and Phantom of the Opera.
He gave his audiences a convincingly wicked Don Giovanni, who laughs at life and at all around him. He believes life is one big joke, created for his pleasure, and that he can take all girls for fun. He has already killed the father of one lady he desired and is well on his way to killing the bridegroom of his latest conquest, the young peasant Zerlina.
Zerlina was sung by Nashwa Ibrahim, who looked like a trembling old woman: her make-up and costume were as unbecoming as her performance was unconvincing. Soprano Nashwa Ibrahim graduated from the Cairo Conservatoire in 1983, obtaining a master's degree in opera singing with distinction. She received a grant from Austria and her doctorate in opera singing from the Academy of Arts in Cairo. She has been awarded the first prize from the Egyptian Supreme Council for Culture and has taken part in numerous international competitions. Though enjoying a good, strong voice, Ibrahim lacks colour and expression: trying always to be on the sweet side, her interpretations tend towards the monotonous.
Among the voices that shone in the current production was baritone Emad Adel's in the demanding role of Leporello, the Don's servant, who would do anything and everything to please his master. He shared the part with the brilliant Elhamy Amin. Adel's performance was outstanding. Though he has taken part in a number of operas, audiences seem to be discovering him for the first time: his strong voice, striking timbre, excellent diction and remarkable stage presence turned him into one of the most distinguished singers.
The real star of the show, though, was undoubtedly soprano Mona Rafla in the part of Donna Anna, the Lady of the Palace, who calls for help while Don Giovanni is trying to seduce her. When her father, the commendatore appears on the scene, Don Giovanni kills him and flees from the scene of his crime, while Donna Anna and her betrothed, Don Ottavio, vow to avenge the murder. Rafla joined the Cairo Opera Company in 1988, and has shown herself a brilliant performer, successfully undertaking roles in a series of major productions. She has been awarded several prizes and scholarships and is one of the most popular of Cairo Opera's performers. Audiences loved her elegant and passionate interpretation of Donna Anna just as much as they did her appearances in La Boheme, Thais, Les pecheurs de perles and Turandot.
This production was generally more convincing than its earlier incarnation. Colours were brighter, lights more cheerful and the mood livelier. Director Walid Aouni decided to cancel the projected film portraying the singers and the rehearsals preceding the opera's overture. While the idea was interesting it was too long and it did not show the performers at their best. It had rather spoiled the entire spectacle before it began. Now that the film has been cancelled the overture has taken its rightful place with Maestro Ivan Filev conducting the Opera Orchestra, while on the empty stage Don Giovanni, torn between evil and good, is not sure whether he should ask for God's mercy or whether he should pursue his life of lust and wicked deeds. In the end he opts for the latter, perseveres in his sinful actions and enjoys his vile behaviour.
Having been submitted to some welcome changes, Don Giovanni seemed, this time, to better please the audience. And we can continue to hope for a miracle. Someday, maybe, Violetta will find her way back to the stage.
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