Amal Choucri Catta finds matters not in the least bit amusing Cairo Symphony Orchestra concerts during the month of April, conductors Alain Paris, Elio Orciuolo and Christoph Mueller, Venue: Main Hall, Cairo Opera House: 2, 16, 23 and 30 April, 8pm. Lovers and friends of symphonic concerts were surprised when discovering an evening of Neapolitan songs with tenor Sobhi Bedeir, pianist Nayer Nagui and the A Capella Choir on programme among Cairo Symphony Orchestra's weekly concerts scheduled for 16 April. Until that date, Sobhi Bedeir and Nayer Nagui had performed popular Neapolitan songs and other Italian tunes in Cairo Opera's different halls: this concert was therefore a Cairene premiere for Napoli and Cairo's Symphony Orchestra which has thus been officially admitted into the Main Hall, while seeming to be taking over the genre generally performed by Cairo Opera's Orchestra. With a few orchestral overtures and operatic Intermezzos added to songs like O sole mio and Mamma, Torna a Suriento and Con te partiro the Canzone Napoletana, having suddenly turned symphonic, was welcomed among the music of Brahms and Beethoven, Mozart and Ravel and many other renowned symphonic composers. Bedeir's concert was, as expected, an extraordinary success. It seems, however, that Cairo Symphony Orchestra's directors are in search of novelty. Saturdays' concerts being often rather dull, seldom attracting a large number of listeners and the Main Hall often witnessing more musicians on stage than viewers in the hall, the responsible directors are trying to find a remedy to the unfortunate situations. They seem however to be foregetting that the best remedy is a highly qualified orchestra and interesting musical works, as on Saturday 2 April, when a somewhat well-filled house was assured by the concert titled "Spain in French music" with flautist and the Cairo symphonists conducted by Frenchman Alain Paris opening with Emmanuel Chabrier's Rhapsody for Orchestra "Espana", followed by François Devienne's Seventh Concerto for flute and orchestra in E-minor. Born in 1759, Devienne, who is rather unknown to Cairene audiences, joined the Paris Opera Orchestra at the age of 20, as second bassoonist, while studying with the orchestra's first flautist. He composed a number of works, mainly concertos for the two instruments and in 1759 he was appointed professor for the flute at the then newly founded Paris Conservatoire. In 1802 his mental health failed and he died one year later, aged 44. His Flute Concerto Number 7 is representative of his elegant, simple style, allowing focus on the soloist's virotuosity. The three movements were brilliantly interpreted by , Egypt's first lady of the flute. She succeeded in bringing the loveliest of sounds to the work, turning every single note to catch the light and nurturing it, while producing the most seductive music: delightfully sensitive and passionately powerful, Abdel-Dayem's virtuosity is always impressive. Her performance was magnificent and should therefore not go unnoticed. That night, the concert closed beautifully with three Spanish works by Maurice Ravel. The concert of Saturday 23 April was somewhat disappointing: the soloist Stefan Toenz having been taken ill, Jan Sibelius's Concerto for violin was replaced by Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, which turned out to be the best performance of the evening. Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conducted that night by Christoph Mueller, gave their audience a rather colourless Prélude � l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy, while closing the concert with a flimsy version of Bela Bartok's "Concerto for orchestra". That was when we started, once again, to question the reliability of Cairo Symphony Orchestra's quality. Finally, April's concert of last Saturday, conducted by Christoph Mueller, closed the month with Mozart's Overture to The Magic Flute, KV 620, Edward Elgar's Concerto for cello and Johannes Brahms's Third Symphony in F-major, Opus 90. Mozart and Brahms being quite popular among Cairene audiences, the only interesting work, that evening, was undoubtedly Elgar's concerto. Edward William Elgar was born near Worchester at a time of unbounded riches on the European musical scene: Liszt, Brahms, Wagner, Berlioz and many others were either in full voice or approaching maturity, while England, at the time the most powerful country in the world, was practically non-existant on the musical map. Inspired by a passionate love for his country, Elgar's compositions succeeded in replacing England on the international musical map. He took a while to find his true composer's voice, but by the end of the century, he was acknowledged as the greatest composer since Henry Purcell of the 17th century. His musical style was open to all new trends and by the end of 1890 everyone knew that England had found an individual voice, based on chromatic harmony, soaring melodies, extraordinarily virtuosic orchestration and an energy quite unprecedented in the nation's music. World War One was a horrific time for Elgar, his flow of works subsided to a trickle and he died in 1934 after a long illness. Last Saturday, Cairo Symphony Orchestra with soloist Hassan Moataz, had a happy hand choosing Elgar's controversial Concert for Cello and orchestra in E-minor, Opus 85. Few concertos begin as ominously as this one for the cello. When the soloist's bow bites into the stark E-minor chords, it sounds like a summons from galactic spaces: the impression is sombre and eerie and filled with anguish. Elgar had begun writing the concerto towards the end of the First World War: his Edwardian surroundings had been blown apart, many of his friends were dead, he had turned 60 and just undergone a throat operation, and Alice, his stalwart wife was ailing. To pile misery upon misery Elgar accurately sensed that musical taste had turned against him: the premiere of his concerto was received with indifference. The wistful, emotional Adagio Moderato of the concerto's first movement, leads to the Lento Allegro Molto, with the cello often disappearing into the orchestral sound, like a ghost flitting from one galaxy to another. Filled with soulful angst, the Adagio is reminiscent of a stunning sonic landscape, misty, mellow, and quite impressive. The mood is mournful and obscure and seems to be summing up Elgar's attitude to life. Egypt's young soloist, Hassan Moataz succeeded in giving a demonstration of rock-steady clarity and intonation, with a splendidly cool, even postmodern interpretation, avoiding the overdose of emotional pitfalls and sentimental traps. Born in 1980, Moataz joined the Cairo Conservatoire aged nine, studying the cello with Egypt's No. 1 cellist Ayman El- Hanbuli. He won several local prizes and in 1995- 1998 he worked with the Mediterranean Sea Orchestra in France, while collaborating with foreign youth orchestras and participating in the Workshop for Chamber Music and Orchestra, Weimar, Germany, in 1999. Moataz furthermore undertook concept tours in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. His remarkable performance was received with an endless shower of applause. Unfortunately, however, discipline was non- existant in the Main Hall that night: cameramen, technicians and some viewers raised their voices to the extent that Maestro Mueller had subsided. Lately discipline is running very low in the Main Hall and the available ushers do not seem to be caring: people enter with their water bottles and start drinking during the performances, they furthermore try to sit in seats of their choice and not in their numbered seats, while their young children run around making an indescribable din and their mobile phones keep on merrily ringing. The Main Hall has never been in such a sad state before.
