An event and an overture. Amal Choucri Catta enjoys both Mozart Birthday Concert, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, cond. Marie-Christine Forget, Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 27 May, Alexandria Opera House 28 May, 9pm. Cairo Symphony Orchestra, cond. Steven Lloyd, violin , Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 3 June, 9pm Among the many concerts taking place regularly, every Saturday at Cairo Opera's Main Hall, there is one that should not be ignored: a women's concert, originally planned for two female soloists and one lady conductor. If female soloists are not unusual, women conductors do not happen every day. At Cairo Opera House, on 27 May, the presence of Marie- Christine Forget at the head of Cairo's Symphony Orchestra was an event. The concert was entirely dedicated to Mozart's 250th birthday, opening with the overture to Le nozze di Figaro, KV 492, followed by Mozart's Flute Concerto in G-major, replacing the Flute and Harp Concerto in C-major originally announced. The foreign harpist, Vassilia Briano, had cancelled her trip to Egypt following an accident. The Egyptian flautist, Inas Abdel-Dayem, rapidly re-organised the programme changes, taking over the solo part. The programme, though, suffered from other mishaps. The original plan announced and printed in the orchestra's yearly programme mentioned Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp, followed by Puccini's Missa di Gloria, with the A Capella Choir, tenor Gerard Tusseau and baritone Jean- Francois Rouchon. The idea of a concert dedicated to Mozart was a later idea. That said, the concert was a moving experience, foregrounding a love of music and the joy of performing rather than relying on the usual show of virtuosity. Forget has authority: she obtained her BA and her PhD in musicology from the Sorbonne and was awarded first prize in conducting choir and orchestra in Toulon in 1988, as well as the first prize at the International Competition of Conductors in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1995. She has been director of music at the Draguignan Conservatoire in France and professor of music history and analysis at Toulon Conservatoire as well as the conductor of the Ensemble Instrumental Mediterranean and several other orchestras. She has conducted in the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Namibia and Vietnam, presenting both orchestral works and operas. Then, on 3 June, Cairo Opera audiences greeted the return of their young hero, conductor Steven Lloyd, at the head of the orchestra for the first of three end-of-season concerts. It opened beautifully with the overture to Rossini's four-act opera Guillaume Tell, the last of his 38 operas and based on Freidrich Schiller's play. In the score Rossini's sense of picturesque colour reaches new heights. Though this was his last stage-work, he lived for another 39 years composing two religious works and a host of engaging trifles, the so- called "péchés de vieillesse" or "sins of old age". Rossini's overture, though often performed in past years, was welcome: the orchestra was colourful and the maestro happy. His happiness remained with the next work, Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E-minor, Opus 64, with the young soloist Amir Bisengaliev from Kazakhstan. A child prodigy, he began playing the violin aged four, while studying at the Central Music School in Almaty. He made his first public appearance at seven, performing with the Kazakh State Symphony Orchestra, and won prizes at several competitions in Kazakhstan and in Russia. At the age of 12 he moved to England and, a year later, became the youngest winner of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, receiving the gold medal and the title "International Instrumentalist of the year 1999". In 2002 he performed with the Leeds Sinfonia at Birmingham Symphony Hall. In 2003 he was invited to play at a Royal Gala Concert for UNESCO in Paris. Bisengaliev's performance was quite remarkable: Mendelssohn's E-minor Violin Concerto represents the composer at his best. He was a very gifted author, producing by his mid-teens sublime masterpieces, alongside his other achievements, as a double prodigy on the violin and piano, an athlete and swimmer, a gifted poet, multi-linguist, water- colourist and philosopher. Yet, although Mendelssohn possessed a talent inexhaustible in terms of promise, he lacked the determination to develop his powers to their full extent. He was, nevertheless, a Romantic master craftsman: in his best works the textures are continually enlivened by his contrapuntal fluency. His E-minor violin concerto is a brilliant piece of music, comprising a passionate allegro and a dreamy andante leading to a ravishing finale. The audience loved it. In the end Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony, Opus 54, closed the concert. Cairo Symphony Orchestra seems to be celebrating the composer's 100th anniversary with due sincerity. His 15th, 5th and 6th symphonies have all been played since February, and his second Concerto for Cello in G-major will close this season's concert cycle. The orchestra seems to be enjoying his challenging forms, the themes he builds up into a remarkable mosaic. It seems also to be happy under the baton of its current maestro.
