Christmas and New Year season is prime time for the Cairo Opera House (COH). This season several programmes were presented to celebrate Christmas, and several others are ready to herald in the New Year. The New Year performance will run until the dawn of 2008, with the well-loved Nubian singer Muhammed Mounir on stage.
Earlier this month saw Nayer Nagy present his annual Christmas concert in the Main Hall. Accompanied by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the COH’s most illustrious performers Nevine Olouba, Iman Moustafa, Mona Rafla, Dalia Farouk, Jacqueline Rafiq, Gala al-Hadeedy, Tamer Tawfik, Elhamy Amin, and Reda al-Wakeel performed. The guest of honour was famous tenor Sobhy Bedeir. Soprano Gala al-Hadeedy presented various old English and French carols such as Douce nuit, Minuit Chrétiens, Santa Claus is coming to town and the German O tannenbaum.
Pianist Amina Ezzeddin and violinist Lubna Hammad presented classic works by Beethoven, Hoffman, and Tchaikovsky in the Small Hall.
Ballet matinee
In the Main Hall there were four evening performances and a matinée of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. The Nutcracker has become a classic with the Cairo Opera House during the Christmas and New Year season, and usually plays to a full house. Cairo children especially love the fantasy and the colourful dances.
With Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice, falling a few days before Christmas, the COH presented the Arabic version of The Merry Widow with free admittance to celebrate the event. Nader Abassi conducted the orchestra and the Acapella choir.
The Cairo Opera House will present its gala performance to herald in the New Year with Muhammad Mounir, who is expected to draw an audience of 40,000. Cairo Opera House director Abdel-Moniem Kamel said all preparations are in place and the garden decorated in anticipation of the festivities.
Mounir said that he was now used to celebrating the New Year at the Opera House, as he has done for more than eight years. He turned down invitations to Lebanon, Germany, France and the United Arab Emirates in order to ring in the New Year at home.
Those with special needs also celebrate
The church of St Mary, Archangel Michael and St Maurice in the underprivileged area of Umraniya, Giza, celebrated Christmas in unique style. Last week it held a Christmas concert performed by persons with special needs, bringing to light their hidden talents. One of the participants was Mary Saïd who was refused admission to the Institute of Arabic Music because she is blind.
A documentary on the activities of St Maria Centre, the centre affiliated to the church for helping and training the handicapped, was screened at the beginning of the celebration.
The mentally disabled presented songs and hymns using the cymbals. Although they sang rather quickly, all the attendants loved their unexpectedly beautiful performance. The famous al-Anaam choir whose members are all blind girls gave a particularly impressive performance of Christmas carols and songs especially written and composed for them. The words expressed the challenge they continuously face because of their handicap and how they are able to play roles no less than any normal person in the community. The choir is supervised by Sanaa’ al-Assuity and director Faisal Gohar.
A sketch by the deaf mute followed, presenting situations they commonly confront, and their relationship with God.
Father Mikhail Ramzy, the church’s priest pointed out that the Santa Maria centre offers educational and creativity training courses in all fields. “But, he added, the main problem is that the community does not easily accept or accommodate people with special needs.”