Mystic melange In the inspirational setting of Amir Taz Palace, with its ingenious architectural design, the Musica Antigua Quintet, under the direction of Eduardo Paniagua, gave Ramadan nights a distinct flavour. Specialising in mediaeval Spanish music, the Quintet -- made up of Eduardo Paniagua, César Carazo, Wafir Sheik and David Mayoral -- seeks to bring back to life the rich intermingling of Jewish, Christian and Muslim heritage. The open-air hall of the palace, converted into one of Cairo's most enchanting performance venues, was filled to overflowing; and as oud, violin, qanoun, flute and percussions worked miracles of sound, the mystic ambiance was unmistakable. The sensitive lens of Ayat Kamel didn't fail to capture the mood. US Ambassador Francis J Ricciardone presided over the launch of a compilation of recordings from the archives of the Voice of America (VOA) Arabic service at Amir Taz Palace. The three-CD collection, produced by the American Embassy in Cairo in cooperation with the VOA is entitled Bainee wa Bainak (Between You and Me). Some 300 guests attended, including Libyan Ambassador Saleh Al-Derougi, Iraqi Ambassador Mohamed Reda, actor Nour El-Sherif, actress Fifi Abdu, Iraqi oud player Nasseer Shamma and novelist Gamal El-Ghitani as well as many high-profile cultural and media figures. Ricciardone introduced the collection saying, "we chose the name Bainee wa Bainak because ultimately relations between Egypt and America are between people. Our cultures bring us together." Bainee wa Bainak features interviews in standard Arabic with Egyptian literary icons like Naguib Mahfouz, Salah Abdel-Sabour, Salah Jahin, Noaman Ashour, musicians like Mohamed Abdel-Wahab and Riad El-Sonbati, and actors like Youssef Wahbi, Mohamed Tawfiq, Yehia Shahin and Tahiya Karioka. Bainee wa Bainak will be made available to Egyptian libraries, universities and cultural institutions for purposes of research and instruction. photo: Ahmed Shehata Celebrating 16 years of national independence, Armenian Ambassador to Egypt Ruber Karapetian gave a lavish reception at the Armenian Embassy attended by, among many dignitaries and diplomats, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George. Karapetian asserted that Egyptian- Armenian relations are ancient, expressing his country's eagerness to further strengthen them on the political, cultural and economic levels. Organised personally by Mohamed El-Sawy, a cultural Sohour took place at El-Sawy Culture Wheel last Wednesday, reports Amira El-Naqeeb. Present at the space overlooking the Nile, among the 500 or so guests, were TV presenters Gamal El-Shaaer, Dorreya Sharafeddin, Moataz El-Demerdash and Mai El--Sherbini as well as oud virtuoso Nasseer Shamma, who entertained the guests with some excerpts from upcoming works. Jazz musician Fathi Salama, filmmaker Mohsen Ahmed and North-South Consultants Exchange Executive Director Zohra Merabet were also present. photos: Ayman Barayez At Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel, the mobile phone company Vodafone celebrated its 10th anniversary in the presence of, among others, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel, Minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, former minister of tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui, MP Mona Makram Ebeid, businessman Mohamed Nosseir, actress Youssra and film director Inas El-Degheidi. The Cairo Opera House has a special Ramadan programme, undertaken in collaboration with a number of Arab embassies. Performances include music and dance from Indonesia, Tunis, Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Yemen. Pop stars like Mohamed Mounir and Medhat Saleh will sing Sufi and love songs at the Open-Air Theatre, which will also see jazz musician Yehia Khalil, the West Al-Balad band, Sudanese singer Sharhabeel Ahmed, marimba player Nesma Abdel-Aziz to mention but a few. (see Listings p.5) Last Saturday, Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir and head of the General Organisation of Culture Palaces (GOCP) Ahmed Nawwar inaugurated Layali Al-Mahrousa (Cairo Nights) at Al-Fustat garden on Salah Salem Road: a cultural programme including seminars, stage plays, music and dance, opening with a stage show featuring the veteran actor Ahmed Maher. Former MP and American University in Cairo lecturer Mona Makram Ebeid will spend a week-long fellowship at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where she graduated in 1982. She will lecture on political reform in Egypt and Middle East politics. To mark International Peace Day, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is hosting a film festival on cultural dialogue and peace-related issues. The BA Cinema Affairs counsellor, critic Samir Farid stressed cultural dialogue as the topic of the day since 9/11. The event opened with the French movie El-Sayed Ibrahim and Roses of the Quran, starring Omar Sharif. Congratulations! Samir Ramzi Attiya obtained his PhD on corporate image-making from the Faculty of Commerce, Menoufiya University; the panel was headed by Gamaleddin Mohamed Gadallah, head of the faculty's business administration department. In an attempt to bolster up the musical genre, last week the Cairo Opera House presented the operetta Al-Maghna Hayyat Al-Roh (Singing is the Life of the Soul) with singers Mohamed El-Helw and Ali El-Haggar, described by Opera House Director Abdel-Moneim Kamel as a revival of "the song theatre" which has all but disappeared. Directed by Gihan Morsi, the two-part operetta takes Arab composers and poets as its theme.
