Cairo Opera House
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Reviewed by:
Christine
Rating:
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Egypt's love and appreciation for the performing arts dates back to pharaonic times, so it should come as of no surprise that Cairo has a state-of-the art Opera House.
Designed by a team of Egyptian and Japanese architects in 1988, the seven story Opera House is located on the south end of Gezira Island and is considered a masterpiece of postmodern Islamic architecture. The Opera House complex houses several galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art, restaurants and concert halls. It is equipped with the latest audio-visual system and the main theater, which is used for opera, ballet and classical music performances can seat 1,200 spectators.
A second theater seating 500 people is used for film festivals and conferences while a third, open-air theater has the capacity to seat 1,000. The original opera house, Khedivial (Royal) Opera House opened in 1869 under the order of Khedive Ismail to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. The Khedive soon commissioned an opera to reflect ancient Egyptian history, resulting in the famed Verdi opera, Aida.
The Khedivial Opera House was the first on the African continent to perform world famous operas and symphonic masterpieces. It was completely destroyed by a fire in 1971.
Today, the Cairo Opera House is part of the country's National Cultural Center whose aim is to promote and encourage art, music and dance and to preserve traditional Arabic music.
Performances of ballet, opera or symphonic works are staged with Egyptian companies or in cooperation with foreign ensembles or soloists. Seminars and cultural conferences covering a wide range of artistic and intellectual issues are held regularly.
Category: Theaters and Performance
Address: El Borg Gezira
Website www.cairoopera.org
Telephone: 27370603/27350911
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