Arab Opera

In one of Bernard Lewis's sillier moments, he wrote in What Went Wrong? of the Arab world's lack of engagement with Western classical music as a sign of the region's alleged cultural decline. Personally, I'll worry about that when I start worrying about the West's failure to produce or appreciate maqamat. However, Lewis should be quite pleased to learn that the first ever Arab opera has just been produced in Qatar. The opera, written by Ahmed ad-Dosari and Michiel Borstlap, is based on the life of the 10th century philosopher Ibn Sina, and is described as a "philosophical 10th century tale of kingship, treason and love." The opera represents part of the opening festivities for Qatar's new "Education City," which as I understand it puts all the educational outlets of world universities in close proximity to each other where they can better share resources and build a thriving educational and cultural community.