Opera “Masquerade" by Carl Nielsen at Cairo Opera House

09 June 2024

The Cairo Opera House, under the supervision of Dr. Lamiaa Zayed, is hosting Carl Nielsen’s Opera "Masquerade" in cooperation with the Danish Embassy in Cairo at the Main Hall on Wednesday, 12 June 2024 at 8:30 p.m.
The concert is held in participation of the Cairo Opera Orchestra, under the baton of the Danish Maestro Peter Etrap Larsen, and the Cairo Opera Choir, trained by Mina Nabil Hanna.
The leading roles are performed by a group of Danish and Egyptian soloists, including: Susanne Elmark (Soprano), Charles Workman (Tenor), Morten Staugaard (Baritone), Moustafa Mohamed (Baritone), Moustafa Medhat (Tenor), Mina Raphael (Tenor) and Ibrahim Nagui (Tenor).
The opera takes place in Copenhagen where the young couple Leander and Leonora meet at a masquerade ball. They immediately fall passionately in love with each other and exchange rings. Unfortunately, their parents have already made arrangements for them to be wed to what initially appears to be unknown third parties. Especially Leander’s grumpy father, Jeronimus, an old citizen of Copenhagen, is a stickler for tradition and zealously praises the values of “the good old days”. Leander, however confesses his love first to his valet, Henrik, and eventually to his father.
Leonora too, informs her father, that she wants out of the wedding arrangement, but not least due to the interventions of Leander’s valet, Henrik, and Leonora’s maid, Pernille, (who – naturally – also fall for each other), all is eventually solved as it becomes clear, that the two youngsters Leander and Leonora as a matter of fact were the ones already matched by their parents to be married. Even the grumpy Jeronimus surrenders and joins the fun in the festive and joyous finale.
Opera "Masquerade" is a three-act opera that was first performed on 11 November 1906 at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed great popularity as it is considered the national opera of the country.