Egypt has always been regarded as a cultural and geographical crucible of world civilizations. Gifted by its strategic location, it has consistently served as a beacon of art and a nucleus for cultural diffusion. Acknowledging the pioneering role of Egypt, Khedive Ismail gave instructions to build an Opera House, in 1869, to celebrate the inauguration of the Suez Canal. Known for his passion for culture and art, the Khedive planned to lay the foundation of an architectural masterpiece that rivals its counterparts in Europe. The Khedivial Opera House was constructed in only six months to the design of two Italian architects, Avoscani and Rossi. Outstanding specialists with wide experience in theatre construction were brought to Egypt to carry out the work. Before the building was complete, Khedive Ismail started to prepare a great performance for the opening of his project that should reflect glimpses of Ancient Egyptian history. He commissioned the Italian poet Antonio Ghislanzoni to write the libretto and Giuseppe Verdi to compose the music. The outcome was the famous opera, Aida, with its patriotic subject, passionate songs, and superb music: an operatic masterpiece. Unfortunately, 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. Accordingly, Verdi’s Rigoletto was performed in the Khedivial Opera House’s official opening instead. Aida eventually premiered two years later, in 1871. The Khedivial Opera House was the first in Africa and the Middle East, where famous world operas and symphonic masterpieces were performed. Tragically, in the early morning hours of 28 October 1971, a fire burned down the building of the Khedivial Opera House leaving Cairo without a suitable operatic venue for nearly two decades. In March 1985, the first cornerstone of the new Opera House was laid. Egypt, with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), decided to build a prestigious cultural edifice that shall become a hub of artistic activity in the region. After deciding on Gezira in central Cairo as the new location, careful planning by the Ministry of Culture and the JICA produced a design suggestive of traditional Islamic architecture which blends in harmoniously with the surrounding area. This cooperation was a significant gesture revealing the bonds of friendship between these two ancient countries. After 34 months of continuous hard work, the Cairo Opera House was officially inaugurated on the 10th of October 1988.
Widely acclaimed as one of Egypt’s most distinguished operatic voices, Reda El Wakil has been a bass-baritone with the Cairo Opera Company since the inauguration of the new Cairo Opera House in 1988. He studied at the Cairo Conservatoire from where he obtained his PhD in singing. In France, at the “École Normale de Musique de Paris”, where he had been granted a scholarship, Reda El Wakil received his concert diploma. He is the winner of several international competitions: Placido Domingo Competition in Paris (1st Prize) in 1994, International Competition of Paris (4th Prize) in 1994, International Competition of Toulouse (1st Prize and Public Prize) in 1994. In the same year, he also received the State Merit Award from President Mubarak.
He sang the main roles of Don Giovanni, Conte Almaviva, and Don Alfonso in the first Arabic version of Mozart’s operas Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Così Fan Tutte, all translated by Dr. Ali Sadek. Reda El Wakil performed the main bass roles in operas like La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Carmen, Thaïs, Anas Al-Wugud, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Il Signor Bruschino, L’Elisir d’Amore, Il Trovatore, Aida, Un Ballo in Maschera, Rigoletto and La Traviata. In 1987, the late nineties, and 2002, he sang the roles of Ramfis and Il Re at the Pyramids area and Luxor productions of Aida.
Reda’s performances abroad started in the late eighties and led him to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, England, Italy, Poland and Germany. From 1995 on, he was invited to famous stages in France, such as the Opéra Bastille in Paris where he performed in Un Ballo in Maschera, the Opéra Comique with Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse with Fedora. Performances in Avignon, Nîmes, and Montpellier followed with roles in Rigoletto and Samson et Dalila. Reda also took part in the 1999 Massenet Festival in Saint-Etienne, as Timour in Le Roi de Lahore, which he also sang in Bordeaux in the same year.
He returned to Toulouse for Madama Butterfly and to the Opéra Bastille for Turandot in 1999. Carmen, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Rigoletto and Jerusalem were also performed several times. One of his engagements led him to Chile (Madama Butterfly by Puccini) in September 2001, others to Palm Beach, Florida (Tannhäuser, Don Carlo as King Philippe and the Inquisitor) in 1998, 1999, and 2002 and to Bari, Italy in 2005. His repertoire includes sacred music and he performed in several Requiems by Verdi, Fauré, Mozart, Duruflé, and Brahms, Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria as well as secular orchestral works such as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Fantaisie. Reda El Wakil was the Artistic Director for Music, Opera and Ballet Sector of the Cairo Opera House. Currently, Reda El Wakil is the Chairman of the Board of the “Cairo Opera House”.
The Egyptian Opera House, or the General Authority of the National Cultural Center, was opened in 1988 and is located in its new building, which was built by a grant from the Japanese government to its Egyptian counterpart on the land of Al-Jazeera in Cairo.the house was built in the Islamic style.
This great cultural edifice, which opened on October 10, 1988, is the alternative to the Khedive's Opera House, which was built by Khedive Ismail in 1869 and burned down on October 28, 1971 after remaining a cultural beacon for 102 years.
The history of the construction of the old opera house dates back to the period of prosperity witnessed by the era of Khedive Ismail in all fields. Khedive Ismail ordered the construction of the Khedivial Opera House in the Azbakeya neighborhood in central Cairo on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal, where he intended to invite a large number of kings and Queens of Europe. The opera was built in just six months after its design was developed by the Italian architects avoscani and Ross. Khedive Ismail's desire was for an Egyptian Opera to be opened by the Khedivial Opera House, an opera Aida, whose music was composed by the Italian musician Verdi, but circumstances prevented it from being presented at the time of the opening ceremony, so the opera Rigoletto was presented at the official opening, which was attended by Khedive Ismail, Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, King of Austria and crown prince of Prussia.
The Khedivial Opera House, which burned down at dawn on October 28, 1971, had a capacity of 850 people, and there was a place dedicated to important personalities and that house was characterized by grandeur and luxury.
