December is the month of Christmas when, all over the world, musicians contribute to the festive season. In Egypt, serious Christmas celebrations are reserved for the most part for Christian households, churches and seasonal bazaars, but it is equally recognised in concert halls. Soloists, choirs and orchestras have already given a number of Christmas related concerts in many venues in Cairo. The Cairo Choral Society and Cairo Festival Orchestra, conducted by John Baboukis, joined soprano Nevine Allouba, mezzo soprano Nathalie Alain, tenor Georges Wanis and bass Wassyl Slypak started December with two performances of George Frideric Handel's Messiah. Devoted followers of the choir and their always captivating seasonal appearances could listen to the great English-language oratorio at the All Saints' Cathedral on 3 December and at AUC's Ewart Hall on 4 December. On Tuesday 9 December, the El-Sakia String Orchestra, featuring Allouba, gave its own Christmas concert at El-Sawy Culturewheel. The same concert will be repeated on 22 December at the Nile University on 6 October. Mohamed Saad Basha, the founder, artistic director and principal conductor of the orchestra points to the importance of this particular concert: “The El-Sakia String Orchestra is five years old. Until last season, all our concerts were taking within El-Sawy Culturewheel's premises. We started with one concert per month, then moved to two concerts. This is the first season we have moved outside El-Sakia and the second time we will play at Nile University.” Saad Basha stresses the opportunity to address new audiences, reaching out to listeners representing different generations and backgrounds. The string orchestra's Christmas concert has a standard repertoire: Corelli's Christmas Concerto, Piazzolla's Oblivion and fragments of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite followed by Christmas traditional songs. “Though the programme does not include anything unusual,” Saad Basha says, “it is the fact of having moved outside El-Sakia that makes this event so special. I hope that, in time, we will be also able to play in other governorates and, who knows, maybe one day we'll have an opportunity to perform internationally, if we manage to get a financial support.” Yet prior to El-Sakia String Orchestra's concert, Egypt's audience will be treated to one of the Christmas classics: an annual concert given by soloists of the Cairo Opera Company, the Cairo Celebration Choir and the Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by Nayer Nagui. This season, the concert will take place at the Alexandria Opera House on 12 December and at the Cairo Opera House on 14 and 15 December. Founded in 2000, with Nagui as its artistic director and principal conductor, the Cairo Celebration Choir has become one of the most significant pillars of the Egyptian music scene. Over 100 choir members sing a large assortment of well known choral works from the Western classical music repertoire, Gregorian chants and famous Egyptian choral works by Sayed Darwish and Gamal Abdel- Reheim, arranged by Nagui. In 2012, the choir won the Silver Level Diploma at the Czech Republic's Prague Voices Festival; in early 2014 they performed at the National Mohammed V Theatre in Rabat, Morocco, and in April performed in France, giving a concert at the UNESCO Main Theatre Hall. The choir's annual Christmas concert with the Cairo Opera soloists is one of the most sought-after seasonal events, drawing in a huage audience each year. Equally important for Christmas is the concert by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. This year, conducted by Ahmed El-Saedi, the orchestra will be joined by the A Cappella Choir and will feature soprano Nicoleta Radu, tenor Hani El Shafie and baritone Reda El Wakil. The concert will take place on Saturday 20 December at the Cairo Opera House and its programme will include Franz Schubert's Symphony no. 5 and Mass no. 2 for soloists, choir and orchestra. Christmas would not be complete without the traditional Nutcracker ballet, however. It will be performed by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company and the Cairo Opera Orchestra. Erminia Kamel, the artistic director of the company, shares special memories of Tchaikovsky's ballet, saying that it is one of the oldest elements in the repertoire of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. “It's been 20 years that we've performed the Nutcracker at the Cairo Opera House, one of the most frequently performed ballets in our history. I remember our first performance, in which I danced the role of Clara, and Lamia Mohamed danced Clara the young girl. I remember how tense I was,” Kamel comments, adding that the ballet is very demanding technically. She continues by pointing out that this is a unique version of the Nutcracker, which she says is the most appealing she has ever watched or danced in. “The director of the ballet, the late Abdel Moneim Kamel, gave his own beautiful touch to the Nutcracker. He enriched the personalities without undermining their main characteristics.” The ballet will be performed on six consecutive evenings, between 25 and 30 December, in the evening hours. Kamel reveals that she also plans to add one matinee performance on 29 December. Alexandria will see a number of Christmas concerts, including an evening at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina where the BA Chamber Orchestra and the BA Choir conducted by Hisham Gabr will perform a Christmas and New Year's repertoire on Monday 29 December. The programme will include Handel's Hallelujah and experts from the composer's Messiah, famous waltzes and polkas by Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehar in addition to a few Christmas carols. The concert features soprano Amira Selim who will come from Paris especially to join the evening. “I am very happy with the progress that the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Choir has been making over the past months, under Rodica Ocheseanu,” Gabr comments. “The choir's preparations for the Christmas-New Year's concert are paralleled by challenging works. In April 2015 the choir will sing Mozart's Requiem.” Closing the year, the annual New Year's concert by the the Cairo Symphony Orchestra will take place in the Cairo, Alexandria and Damanhour opera houses, on 31 December, 1 January and 2 January respectively. The concert will be conducted by the Mexican-Austrian maestro Felix Carrasco and feature Austrian soprano Nicoleta Radu. Aside from Christmas as such, there are December concerts that must not be forgotten: the Jesus Heart Choir at Gomhoreya Theatre (13, 14 December), the Christmas Gala with the Alexandria String Orchestra and Fabrica troupe (Damanhour Opera on 19 December and Alexandria Opera on 20 December), the Heaven Harp Choir at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (20 December), the David Heart Choir (Alexandria Opera, 23 & 24 December) and Alexandria's Talents Development Centre Suzuki violin Christmas concert (Alexandria Opera, 29 December).
