Amal Choucri Catta attends a multilingual celebration of passion Sobhi and Friends summer performance, Cairo Opera House, Open Air Theatre, 8 July, 9pm Summertime has been Sobhi time for over 10 years, be it at the Citadel's or the Opera House's open air theatres. One-time tenor Sobhi Bedeir -- who graced Cairo Opera's Main Hall as Aida 's Radames, Trovatore 's Manrico, La Traviata 's Alfredo and other important operatic heroes -- has become synonymous with spectacular summer shows, reminiscent of caftan-clad Demis Russos performing at the Guezira Sporting Club in the early 1980s. At the time, Bedeir's adieu to opera was received with sadness by his numerous fans, but when he re-emerged with the idea of becoming a professional crooner and backing his voice with a sound system rather than a live band, he succeeded in winning an unlimited number of admirers from the younger generation. Demonstrating his extraordinary musical talent, Bedeir started as a soloist, singing his way into the hearts of enthusiastic audiences, who flocked from all over the country to his Italian, Spanish, English and French numbers. With the help of his friend Nayer Nagui, musician, composer and keyboard virtuoso, Bedeir turned into Egypt's mic star, returning to his open air venues in summer and bringing down a full house at each of his performances. As time went by, he called upon his "friends" -- mostly young singers on their hopeful way to stardom -- turned them into a choir and called the show Sobhi and Friends. Their numbers are steadily increasing: they are 16 at present, with baritone Elhami Amin and soprano Jacqueline Rafik, and for some time now, the inevitable Sadek Gallini (and his overdose of deafening percussion), while the ever-present Nayer Nagui crowns the shows with his remarkable musical arrangements and extraordinary keyboard technique. Last Friday, at Cairo Opera's Open Air Theatre, Sobhi and Friends attracted young and old to a medley of songs concentrating on no particular language or subject, though well-dosed with Latin rhythms and a magnitude of improvisations. They started off with a most appropriate Killing Me Softly with His Song, before delving into a passionate Latin Terra Santa, reminiscent of bloody arenas and cries of " Padre, padre ". With the third tune, Bedeir's voice seemed to be getting weaker, while the choir acquired the lion's share of sound. Esmeralda came on next, with emphatic cries of a tormented soul evoking our Temps de Chien, before turning romantic with Sobhi giving his charmed audience a lovely version of Non Ti Scordar di Me. "My life is closely linked to yours, therefore do not forget me," he begged as he hummed lovingly into the mic, while Nayer played something that sounded like a tender lullaby on the keyboard and the choir sang their beautiful "Ah-ahs". It was a song of sad good-byes and long voyages of no return, a song for meditation Sobhi interpreted with his usual sensitivity. The audience loved it: applause was long and loud this time. As in all of Sobhi's performances, love was "a many-splendoured thing" -- it came on gloriously, on bilingual wings of song, in French and Spanish. " Mon histoire, c'est l'histoire d'un amour ", followed by Besame, and the inevitable Cha- cha-cha. This time the singers did not even care to wait for the applause: they hurried on, from one tune to the other, while turning more repetitive with every number. The Marimbas were suddenly back with the popular song Sway, and the choir was later visibly having fun on stage. It was then, once again, high time for nostalgia: decibels had been somewhat overwhelming and listeners were eager to hear one of Sobhi's romantic tunes. After all, they had come to listen to Sobhi and Friends and not to Friends and Sobhi. They were therefore happy when he came on with " You raised me up to more than I can be " with Nayer tenderly playing on the keys and the choir singing softly in the background before going into a fantastic crescendo and returning to loud beats and deafening decibels. " We all need somebody to lean on " was served as a march by Sobhi and Friends, followed by soprano Jacqueline Rafik singing Think of Me, Christine's tune from The Phantom of the Opera, with baritone Elhami Amin who once gave his audiences an unforgettable version of Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute. As for Jacqueline Rafik, she visibly dislikes changes, having remained all these past years on her high pitch while trying her luck at Coloratura for which she, nevertheless, gathers special encouraging applause. Her Phantom was brief however, and Sobhi returned with the popular evergreen Yesterday. " Such is life " sang Gallini, his husky voice crying out with Nayer playing something reminiscent of a Springtime Sonata on the keys and bringing rays of hope to the seemingly dejected lover. That night the audience was given as much passion as romance, as much love and nostalgia as dynamic rhythms. Around 20 different songs filled the first part of the performance and as many were performed in the second -- the show remaining on for around two hours. Though listeners began to leave earlier than expected, the singers did not seem perturbed as they pursued their singing spree under the stars, enjoying their music and the lovely summer breeze. The audience loved them, promising to be back again in August, when Sobhi and Friends will be celebrating their evergreens again.
