Piano, piano: Amal Choucri Catta enjoys two concertos Cairo Symphony Orchestra, cond by Christoph Mueller, with , flute, Magda Emara, piano and Esther Walker, piano. Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, 1 and 8 April, 8pm A great many people were delighted when they heard the news that Christoph Mueller would be returning to Cairo as a guest conductor for two concerts with the Cairo Symphony following his stint as principal conductor and musical director of the Cairo symphonists during the 2004-2005 season. The first of two concert, on 1 April, opened with the glorious overture, and nine items of incidental music, from Beethoven's treatment of Goethe's historical five-act drama Egmont, about a Flemish aristocrat who defied Philip of Spain and was beheaded in 1564. Egmont is presented by Beethoven as a freedom fighter who attempted to liberate the Netherlands from Spanish domination: the musical conception is one of victory and Egmont's execution is evocative of a hero's death. The final allegro con bri o is a triumphant hymn to the hero. There was no place for sadness in this overture, which was conducted with immense sensitivity. The tone and mood changed with the second work in the programme, Camille Saint-Saens' Fifth piano concerto in F- major, Opus 103, called the "Egyptian", and generally considered the best of the composer's five piano concertos. It was written in Luxor, during a trip Saint-Saens made to Egypt in 1896. Though only the second movement sounds Oriental, reflecting the author's great love of North Africa, the work sounded luminous in the hands of soloist Magda Emara, a gifted Egyptian virtuoso pianist who once again revealed her extraordinary talents. Born in November 1984, Emara has already toured Austria and Russia and recorded a CD. She has received several awards, including the first prize at the Bucharest "Jeunesses Musicales" and the first prize in the Moscow open piano competition. She participated in the International Piano Festival "pianos d'Enghien" at Enghien les Bains in 2005 and in the same year toured the Ukraine and Spain. The second part of the concert opened with two brief works by Egyptian composer Gamal Salama: "Two pieces for flute and orchestra," performed by flautist , director of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra and Dean of the Cairo Conservatoire. Salama's two pieces for flute, "Soliloquy" and "Your Love", are colourful, filled with turbulence and passages of meditative intimacy. The concert closed with Rimsky- Korsakov's Spanish Caprice, Opus 34, generally known as "Capriccio Espagnol". It opens with an alborada and closes superbly with a fandango. It was cheered enthusiastically by the audience. Mueller's second concert took place on 8 April, opening with the solemn tunes of Johannes Brahms' Tragic Overture, Opus 81, a dramatic composition, and not one of the author's most popular. The austerity of the opening chords and the languorousness of the sombre themes that follow leave no doubt as to the composer's dismal mood at the time. Difficult for some, too cozy for others, the music of Brahms has inspired hugely contrasting reactions in audiences, both during his lifetime and since his death. Under the Maestro's eloquent baton, Cairo symphonists gave the audience an impressive version of the Overture. Beethoven's Fourth concerto for piano and orchestra in G-major, Opus 58, followed, with young Swiss pianist Esther Walker as soloist. Walker studied at the Lausanne conservatoire, where she obtained her teaching and soloist diplomas. She is an extraordinary performer and has won numerous prizes. She was at once powerful and heroic, witty and mirthful, subdued and meditative, and her dialogue with the orchestra was extraordinary. The concert ended with Haydn's "London" symphony in D-major, No. 104. Haydn seldom appears on local programmes, despite his enormous output. The "London" symphony, then, came as a welcome change, beautifully performed and clearly appreciated by the audience.
