AFTER Italian conductor Giuseppe Monopoli with the Cairo Opera Orchestra have played Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus (the bat), she confidently enters the stage of the Cairo Opera House. She appears wearing a long light golden dress, with her black-short hair to acknowledge the audience's greetings. She sits in front of the piano and looks to the conductor and then starts performing. She performs alongside the orchestra, Piano Concerto in F major by George Gershwin (1898-1937). Japanese pianist Mari Kumamoto tenderly sways to the sounds she makes, playing with her fingers up and down, moving her head, full of music, quietly up and down. At a first look you might think she is a novice. But the grace with which she plays shows she is a professional pianist. Then she performs solo, "Otemoyan", composed by H. Okumura. After she finishes, the audience applaud for ten minutes non-stop, and it is so loud, you may think that the chairs of the Cairo Opera House's Main Hall might applaud too. Born in Tokyo in 1965, Kumamoto began to play the piano at the age of five. Her family moved to Spain when she was ten, where in 1975, she attended the Madrid National School of Music before being awarded a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music. In 1985, she began her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in the UK. After graduating in 1986, she became the youngest recipient of the Recital Diploma. In 1991, Kumamoto made the world's first recording of the complete works of the Spanish composer Frederico Mompou (1893-1987). In 1994, she performed in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at its Sylvester (New Year's Eve) concert. In 1996, she held a recital in Spain, as a participant of the "Japan Week". In 1998, she held a recital in Prague, and also performed with Josef Suk and the Suk Chamber Orchestra. She has been going on tour in Japan every autumn since 1995. She performed with the members of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in November 2006. She has released numerous CDs from King Records, her latest being "Shall We Dance?" "Music is the only language all people understand. It is the language of life, love and peace. I like this wonderful feeling the music can create," Kumamoto told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview in Cairo. Egypt and Japan have traditionally enjoyed cordial relations and many cultural exchanges between the two countries take place. This association was cemented by the building of the Cairo Opera House, completed in October 1988. The funding for the complex was in fact a gift from Japan as a result of President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the country in April 1983. "This is a very nice area and it is a lovely place. I'm pleased to perform with Cairo Opera Orchestra," Kumamoto said. The performance in Cairo, alongside a similar recital in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria, were organised by the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation in Egypt. Kumamoto's favourite pianist is the famous Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha (1923 ��"2009). "I am inspired by this diminutive Spanish pianist, who, esteemed for her elegant Mozart performances is regarded as an incomparable interpreter of Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and other Spanish composers."Kumamoto's recent visit to Egypt was her first ever to the Middle East. "I'm pleased to visit Egypt and meet its friendly people. I have a lot of Egyptian friends," Kumamoto, a professor of Music Performance Department, Osaka University of Arts, said. Her fondness for Egypt knows no limits. She considers herself 'originally' an Egyptian. "I think that before I was born, my soul lived during the ancient Egyptian times, and I was Cleopatra with her hair and clothes," the 45-year-old pianist said smiling, referring to the last queen of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty. "Visiting this country is a dream. And now I am so happy that I might gain fans from Egypt."
