Amal Choucri Catta relives old encounters with mystical glory Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conductor Mustafa Nagui, violin soloist Yasser Ghoneim, Venues: Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, 12 March 8pm; Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria, 13 March, 8pm. The mood was dark with mystery as muffled sounds of woodwinds echoed into the hall. They seemed to be coming from far away spaces, from worlds unknown, gaining in volume as they drew near, and finally landing in a whirlpool of Tutti Fortissimo on the Main Stage. That night was, once again, Cairo Symphony Orchestra night, with a very welcome Mustafa Nagui on Cairo Opera's main podium. In the early eighties of the last century, long before the inauguration of Cairo's new opera house, Mustafa Nagui was one of the main symphonic conductors on the local musical scene. In cooperation with the late principal conductor, Youssef El-Sisi, his sensitive bâton was often applauded at the former Gomhouriya Theatre, where concerts were taking place every Friday. Mustafa Nagui was likewise chosen to conduct symphonists, choir, vocal soloists and the Arabic Music Ensemble at the inauguration of the new Cairo Opera House on 10 October 1988. He was always a star-conductor at main events, brilliantly leading local orchestras to glory. As a reputed cellist, he gave recitals and chamber music concerts, which were the talk of the town; yet, he was happiest when conducting mega orchestras, with soloists and choirs forming a minimum of 400 performers on stage. Due to his musical reputation and his artistic brilliance, he was named president of the National Cultural Centre -- Cairo Opera House in the late 1990s. However, after being replaced by Samir Farag, Mustafa Nagui regrettably disappeared from Cairo's stages. Saturday night was one of the "precious few", reminiscent of bygone nights when the symphonists were at their peak and music lovers were shouting loud Bravos in the old Gomhouriya's concert hall. But the years have passed and the thrills are gone and sweet memories are all that remain from the glorious days that used to be. Though the audience did shout loud Bravos, Saturday night's concert was not one of the spectacular events of the past, but a distinguished "soirée musicale" listeners sincerely enjoyed. It opened with an interesting work by Egyptian composer Rageh Dawoud, best known for his numerous film scores. An important figure on Egypt's musical scene, he is professor of composition at the Cairo Conservatoire and chairs the Committee for Music, Opera and Ballet at Egypt's Supreme Council of Culture. Dawoud has been awarded a number of local and international prizes for his compositions, generally inspired by local folklore and at times intertwined with Occidental music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Among his compositions, Musical Moment for Orchestra is an impressive work in one movement, introducing enigmatic, sombre tones in the Andante, before turning into a romantic melody with an accelerated tempo while finally tending towards the mysterious, meditative mood at the very end. Dawoud enjoys a seemingly effortless ability to create striking and appealing melodies, strong rhythms with colourful effects. His Musical Moment was a suitable choice for the opening of Saturday's concert. Maestro Nagui, composer Dawoud and the orchestra were greeted with flowers and a shower of applause. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a much-loved composer worldwide. In Egypt, he is often considered the most popular of all foreign composers. Saturday night, his Third Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in G-major, KV 216, featured the young and promising soloist Yasser Ghoneim. A member of the Cairo Symphonists, he received his post-graduate diploma last year with distinction and has given concerts as soloist with Sherif Mohieddin's Akhenaton Chamber Orchestra, the Conservatoire Orchestra and the Mediterranean Sea Orchestra. His sound is clear, his touch pure and his melody quite remarkable. Though he has, at times, a tendency of undertaking what seems to be a race with the orchestra, his tempo is generally in harmony with the instrumentalists. Of the seven concertos for violin and orchestra Mozart has written, the third comprises one of the most exquisite Adagios the 19-year-old composer has ever created. It is one of the first five composed in Salzburg at a time when he took the musical small- change of his day -- learned from childhood in the courts of Europe -- and transformed it into a mint of gold. His sense of form and symmetry seems to be innate, and was allied to an infallible craftsmanship which was partly learnt and partly instinctive. There are brilliance and merriment on the surface of Mozart's music, though, underneath, there is a dark vein of melancholy which gives his works a continually provocative and fascinating ambivalence. Brilliance was likewise in the G-major Concerto, with a splendid Cadenza towards the end of the first movement's development and an Adagio as lovely and tender as a sweet lullaby, giving the soloist ample opportunity to display his performing virtuosity and his extraordinary sensitivity. The Rondo of the third movement was a vibrant specimen of Mozartian musical splendour which Yasser Ghoneim's performance perfectly emphasised. The young soloist is undoubtedly on his way to a glorious musical future. The second part of the concert was dedicated to another musical giant: the German Ludwig van Beethoven. The orchestra played his Eighth Symphony in F-major, Opus 93, of a somewhat meditative mood, which seems like a haven of peace in the midst of the composer's usual restlessness. Together with Mozart, Beethoven counts among the best-loved composers in Egypt: his significance in the history and development of music is immense. He emancipated and democratised the art, composing out of spiritual, inner necessity, rather than as provider of virtuoso display material. It is to Beethoven that the world owes the full emergence of the symphony as a repository for a composer's most important ideas. On a broader plain, it must be said that Beethoven was a "great friend in need". In 1824 he wrote: "From childhood, my greatest happiness and pleasure have been to be able to do something for others." He took part in many charity concerts and from his limited income he expended large sums to help his sick brother, from 1812 to 1815, and to pay for his nephew's education after his brother's death. Recent studies have revealed important new insights into Beethoven's life and new research has highlighted his strength of character and his generosity. "He was nearest to God", as one critic said, and in his slow movements his music expressed a mystical exaltation which even Mozart had never approached. Filled with elegance and passion, emotion and tenderness, and, in the last movement, with childish wit and playful merriment, Beethoven's Eighth Symphony, as well as the Maestro's bâton and the orchestra's performance, were greeted with appreciative applause.
