(MENAFN- Arab Times) DAMASCUS Jan 13 (Agencies): After years of war forced it into near silence Damascus' once-thriving Opera House is slowly coming back to life bringing respite and a little culture to residents of Syria's capital. Recent weeks have seen a sharp increase in the number of performances at the Opera House as residents look to revive some of the capital's cultural life despite a civil war that has killed more than 200000 people.
For Darin a young woman from a Damascus suburb hit by heavy fighting the performances have been a welcome break. 'When the concert begins when the first note of the piece is played I'm taken to another world where I can forget about the noise of war' she told AFP as she wandered the halls of the Opera House in central Damascus. 'We're hungry for art. We need to escape... and to give ourselves a boost of positive energy to keep on living.' Syria's crisis erupted in March 2011 with peaceful demonstrations against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and has since evolved into a multi-fronted war pitting rebels and Islamist militants against government forces. Struggled The Opera House inaugurated by Assad in 2004 as a showpiece cultural centre has struggled throughout the conflict managing to keep its doors open but with the number of its performances dropping considerably. Near key government and military buildings on Umayyad Square the Opera House was even damaged during a mortar attack last April that killed two people. Fewer than half of its employees and musicians remain from before the war many having fled the country or been drafted into the military. But the Opera House has launched an attempt at a revival dropping the price of first-class tickets to the equivalent of $1.50 (1.30 euros) in a bid to attract new visitors. It has also brought it in local artists and groups some of them fledgling to grace its stage. Recent performances have included classical and Latin music concerts as well as a poetry reading. Attendance even temporarily returned to pre-war levels last month as more than 5000 people attended a five-day Arab music festival. The Opera House known officially as Dar al-Assad (The Assad Centre) for Culture and Arts contains three halls the largest of which can accommodate 1200 people in its red velvet seats. 'Those who died gave their lives so that we can live and so that the theatres can stay open... They did not die so that we close down' Opera House director Juan Karajoli who took charge last autumn told AFP. Karajoli said the opera planned to hold 'many music festivals and cinema screenings' in 2015 as well as book fairs and art exhibitions. Baraq Tanari a musician from Syria's former commercial hub Aleppo sees the revival of the Opera House as a chance to maintain Syria's artistic side after fighting destroyed many of the country's cultural landmarks. 'We established our band in order to keep our heritage alive during this crisis' Tanari who heads the Tarab Dahab group told AFP as he prepared to take the stage in December. Tanari said he believes that his band's performances of traditional Arab music help show that Syrians are still on the cultural map despite their ruined country. Amidst the chaos of war he said his musicians are trying to 'keep the message of art flowing'. Also: LONDON: One of the world's first operas is coming to a London venue made famous by Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison: Monteverdi's 400-year-old 'Orfeo' opens at the Roundhouse on Tuesday. Theatre director Michael Boyd a veteran of Shakespeare stagings who is directing his first opera thinks the converted former railway shed is especially suited to the 17th-century work which is about Orpheus's descent into the underworld to try to rescue his wife Euridice. 'I was certainly nervous about bringing a courtly opera into the space that's hosted Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison but I couldn't resist the challenge' Boyd who is staging the work jointly for the Royal Opera as well the Roundhouse told Reuters during a rehearsal break. The audience-in-the-round setup with seating for about 1500 is almost sold out for all eight performances he said. The stage configuration helps as in Shakespeare to break down the barrier between the audience and the performers he added. 'There is a sort of cavernous aspect to the space that's well suited to the underworld' he said adding that the singers would have to be amplified but so subtly that few will notice. Set designer Tom Piper who has collaborated with Boyd since the 1990s has had to be especially creative. There are almost no props except for a huge walkway which Orpheus uses to walk from the extremities of the theatre toward Hades(or Hell) which is at the back of the round stage. Along Orpheus's journey teenage dancers recruited from local schools roll around on the stage to represent the waves of the Styx the river between the living world and the underworld. In one bit of stagecraft two girls are lifted upside down on the shoulders of other dancers and each of the girls arches a leg towards the other until the soles of their feet touch to represent the gates of Hades. 'I think people will be very interested in seeing how we create a sense of storytelling in the space' English bass James Platt who sings the role of Charon the ferryman who carries souls across the Styx for a fee. 'Orfeo' was very fresh for its time very different and I think you can still hear that now the orchestration is very vivid and the effects are very vivid both for Monteverdi's time and for now.'
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