Amal Choucri Catta speaks with about the past season and future plans When was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of Cairo Opera Orchestra in 2001, few quibbled with the choice: he had already made a name for himself in Switzerland, and possessed wide-ranging experience as a singer, bassoonist, composer and conductor. He was a prize-winning musician, having conducted the Orchestra of the Suisse Romande, the Marseille Philharmonic and the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra and worked with famous conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Gyorgy Kurtag, Armin Jordan, Pinchas Steinberg and Kent Nagano. Abbassi studied bassoon, piano and composition at the Cairo conservatoire, obtaining his diploma for bassoon and composition with honours. In 1987 he pursued his studies at the Geneva conservatoire, obtaining a first prize for virtuosity in 1990. In 1996 he obtained a prize for singing and as a composer has been commissioned by the Geneva Ballet Company, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra and the Swiss Clarinet Players. His musical work Between Dusk and Dawn has been adapted into a successful ballet in Switzerland. Abbassi has, furthermore, received a diploma for conducting from Lyon's Academie Internationale d'Interpretation Musicale pour Orchestre Symphonique. Since the 2002-2003 season he has become a fixture of the Cairo musical scene: he is much appreciated as a conductor of opera and ballet, as well as for his gala concerts. Always exuberant, and filled with ambition for his orchestra, Abbassi has won the respect and admiration of his instrumentalists and his audiences. He is highly esteemed for his diplomacy and excellent musicianship. Asked about the high points of the last season he replied that his most important challenge was the ballet Le Sacre du printemps. "When it was programmed everyone told me it could not be done. At the time I did not have enough musicians for this extremely difficult piece of music so I took some of the best students from the conservatoire and we succeeded wonderfully though rehearsals were limited in number. After four years of working with the orchestra the success was, in my opinion, fabulous. The musicians and I are always happy at the end of a job well done. The case was the same with Madame Butterfly and other operas and ballets, but with the Sacre it was particularly fascinating." "Another concert worth special mention was the one with the Austrian Spirit of Europe Orchestra, part of a dialogue between civilisations, which was an excellent experience for our musicians. Another important event for me took place in France: a production of Gian Carlo Menotti's Maria Golovin. I had been named musical director and conductor of the orchestra and choir of the Opera de Marseille for Menotti's opera, which was an honour. This was another challenge. Menotti's music is a vivid expression of sensibility: it was not an easy task, but it went marvelously well and we had the most glorious reviews..." Indeed, the Marseillaise wrote that "the clarity and transparency of 's vision turns the music into pure sentiment. He succeeds in creating a continuous flow between the pathetic and the banal; one can hear the heartbeats and the anguish. One can sense the hesitation, even the silence. The music expresses what the performers hide and in the end you are crushed by emotion..." The ninety-five-year-old Gian Carlo Menotti was present at the performances. He is the last great composer of the 20th century alive. The meeting between Gian Carlo Menotti and Abbassi was one of joy, mutual respect and sincere admiration. Needless to say, they were glorious moments for Abbassi, who is considered one of Egypt's finest musical ambassadors. "I was furthermore asked to be member of the jury of the Stenhammar competition in Sweden, an international competition presenting 90 singers and at which I was invited to conduct the closing concert in the presence of the King and Queen of Sweden." Continuing to reminisce, Abbassi talks about his intention to eventually invite lead singers from Maria Golovin to Cairo for a gala concert. "You see, I have excellent contacts with Europe's opera houses and I would like to organise a number of workshops, not only for the singers but also for the technical and artistic staff. Today I can say that the Cairo Opera Orchestra has ceased to be a second-class orchestra. Today it is a very good orchestra, capable of performing the most demanding works. The reviews we had during our tour in Germany and Mexico were excellent. I am happy for the instrumentalists, they are dedicated to music and to their work, though the only thing we regret is the lack of enough rehearsals on stage. I believe all conductors are complaining about it. It is particularly difficult with the choir, when we conduct from the orchestra pit. With regard to the gala concerts for next season, I am planning concert with a Swiss orchestra: they will also be giving a workshop which is a good thing for both orchestras. Then there will eventually be a concert with the eight finalists of the Swedish Stenhammar competition, as well as a concert with one or two vocal soloists and an evening of songs from musicals which are popular with the audience. We will also have a concert with four international vocal soloists, and another concert with very young musicians. I will also be inviting three guest conductors, among them Alain Paris and Thomas Kalb, already known to Cairo audiences. "As for the operatic season, we shall probably have The Merry Widow and La Traviata, Aida and Don Giovanni. As for my plans abroad, I shall be going on tour conducting the Orchestre de chambre de Geneve in Libya, where they have a lovely theatre and to which I shall also invite soprano Amira Selim and the Swiss baritone Martin Bruns. Marseille will be calling me again and I shall go on a grand tour with the Orchestre de la paix. Now I am leaving for Switzerland where I have a lot to do: as you see, winter or summer, work never stops."
