The National Orchestra of Korea Thursday November 11th – Main Hall, Cairo Opera House at 8 pm

Opera Miramar is an adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel; it was turned into a full-length opera with overture, two acts, numerous well-developed characters and scene changes. The story takes place in the 1960s. The realistic set and characters play a part in breaking down the barrier of a serious opera. The story is about four different characters, each giving their own perspective on reality in an intimate monologue that moves between past and present. The monologues build a depressing picture of an ailing, painfully-fractured society, along with political, economic and social upheavals. Miramar is a well-produced opera, considering that it was hard to adapt the opera to the novel, as placing four actors on stage in succession and letting them do all the talking, while the scenes and characters flit silently on a screen behind is hard to execute. Over and above, Miramar is adapted as a libretto in colloquial Egyptian Arabic for a Western-style grand opera.