Opera Ibn Sina - the world's first Arabic Opera

DOHA, Oct 13 (AFP) - Billed as the first opera to be written and
produced by Arabs, Avicenna premiered in Qatar on Sunday night amid a
lavish drive led by the emir to put the gas-rich Gulf state on the
cultural map.

Avicenna is the Latin name for Ibn Sina, born in Bukhara in 980 AD and
whose encyclopaedic works mainly in Arabic bridged east and west in
the fields of medicine, mathematics, astronomy and philosophy.

With patrons as wealthy as Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and
his wife Sheikha Muza, the premiere was a grand affair set on a
massive stage of gold and silver Arabesque shapes before an invitation
only audience of some 1, 000 at a desert fort.

Pianist/Composer Michiel Borstlap from the Netherlands accepted the
assignement to compose in a rather short time,  Atilio de Collonello
was the stage director.
The orchestra came from Rumania, the Timisoara Orchestra.
conducted by Davide Crescenzi.
The cast included the great Icelandic soprano Hanna Dora and dutch
tenor Bernard Loonen. The arabic cast starred tenor George Wanis and
soprano Rasha Ruzk.

"Michiel has written something poetic, moving and energetic," said
Colonello.

Opera Ibn Sina has the interest of Opera houses in Italy and the
Netherlands, as well as in the Middle East.