Amal Choucri Catta almost goes to China Click to view caption Chinese Culture Week in Egypt, from 28 October to 2 November at the Cairo Opera House and other venues; China National Orchestra, Opera House, Main Hall, October 30, 8pm; China Peking Opera Theatre, Gomhouriya Theatre, 29 October, 8pm The least expected and most thrilling of highlights closed the China National Orchestra's Gala Concert at the Cairo Opera's Main Hall, part of the Chinese Culture Week in Egypt. After enjoying a delightful musical evening, replete with gem- like Chinese compositions performed by marvellous young soloists and accompanied by around 60 excellent musicians, the Chinese Gala Concert came to a surprising end with Johann Strauss Senior's Radetzkymarsch, beautifully played under the baton of a remarkable Chinese maestro. The orchestra had to repeat it twice, and an Encore, for an audience that clapped and cheered and didn't seem to care about leaving. Indeed, the concert began to look like as smash from the very first chords played on the erhus, the Chinese violins that formed the largest part of the strings. Combining recognised symphonic instruments like the cello, the harp and some wind instruments, with traditional Chinese instruments, the orchestra managed with great flair to produce an individual sound, turning the concert into an extraordinary musical event. This was an orchestra with a difference : it had all the makings of a symphony orchestra, even the musicians in their official black attire, were seated according to the general lay- out of any symphonic orchestra, with the erhus in the front rows, followed by the wind instruments, the harp, and the drums and percussions at the very end, and yet the difference was there all the time: in the beauty, in the virtuosity and the discipline, as well as in the instruments that are generally divided into four main groups : the "idiophones", among which are the most ancient, gongs, bells, cymbals and xylophones; the "memranophones", drums and different kinds of percussions; the "aerophones", like the flutes and the cheng, or Chinese mouth organ which dates back to the 12th century BC, and finally, the "chordophones", harps, cellos and other string instruments, including the pipa and the erhu, which is played with a bow like the violin. Unexpected sounds, then, and exciting melodies as we were treated to virtuoso performances on the pipa, a stringed instrument, like a lute; on the dizi, a bamboo flute; on the erhu; on the jinghu, an opera fiddle, and on other wind instruments. There were oriental and occidental rhythms, folkloric tunes, scenes of drama and romance, of grasslands and blue skies, of traditional Vighur folk songs and vivid, colourful festivals. The orchestra, under the fascinating baton of Gu Xiagang, moved, with astounding ease, from a tempo di tango to tempo de valse and from there into all kinds of Latin- American and Arab tempi, with charming Asian undertones. Founded in Beijing in 1960 the China National Orchestra has already toured the world to great acclaim and can claim to be one of the most popular national orchestras currently in existence. It was one of the best, certainly one of the most intriguing, orchestras ever to have been applauded on Cairo Opera's main stage. One might have expected to see Egyptian musicians, composers, conductors, or just plain music lovers, among the audience for what was undoubtedly an event. This, though, was sadly not the case. For some obscure reason -- was it the lack of adequate publicity, was it because tickets had to be obtained from the Chinese Embassy -- customers were discouraged, though many, one cannot help suspecting, would have happily paid for tickets if only these had been available at the Opera House's box office. Whatever, it is important to reiterate one fact: the concert was extremely successful, the audience kept asking for more, and when they finally got this magnificent version of Radetzky's March it was served up with the kind of schmaltz one had thought was long ago monopolised by Austrian orchestras. It was as exuberant and stimulating an experience as any of the other Chinese performances that started in the Main Hall on the opening night of the Chinese Week, and continued at the Gomhouriya Theatre with a performance by the renowned Peking Opera. Opera in China goes back to the 14h century, when it was divided into two categories, the Isa Chu, or northern style, classical and musically backed by the flute, and the Hsi Wen, or southern style, relatively free and accompanied by the lute. Under the Ming Dynasty, however, Chinese opera seemed to assume a definitive form: at the time, the stage being forbidden to women, men had to perform feminine roles, developing the vocal falsetto that became typical of Chinese opera. In the past two centuries hundreds of different styles of musical drama have been developed among which the most popular -- certainly outside China -- is the "Peking Opera", generally devoid of sets and scenography. In their place are lavish costumes, masks and mime and strictly stylised acting while the musical instruments are reduced to two or three. The present China Peking Opera Theatre was founded in 1955, attracting a large number of performing artists, actors and actresses, composers, directors and performers of various schools. During its Cairo performance the Peking Opera presented three different dramas, starting with a fairy tale, White Snake, in which two snakes, having turned into two beautiful ladies, Bai and Xiao, practiced asceticism for one thousand years, until one day they were caught in a rainstorm on the lake and then saved by a handsome young man, Xu, who fell in love with Bai, and she with him. The story goes on to tell us about the Monk Fa's jealousy. He asked Xu to get Bai drunk during one of the festivals: Xu obediently did as he was told and Bai turned back into a snake, frightening Xu to death. In the end Bai risks her own life, looking for the magic herb that will revive her lover. Beautifully performed by Huang Hua in the role of Bai, the opera has the virtue of leaving a great deal of freedom for the exercise of the audiences' imagination. Another opera, of a different kind, was The King of Chu Bids Farewell to his Favourite Lady. This was no fairy tale, but rather a story with historical precedents. Two rising forces, Xiang and Liu, are struggling for power. Xiang falls into Liu's ambush and, believing he will not be able to break through the surrounding forces, bids farewell to his beloved Yu Ji, who commits suicide by cutting her throat. Xiang, however, succeeds in breaking through only to lose his way. He commits suicide out of shame. A third opera takes its inspiration from a literary source, Outlaws of the Marshes. A story of intrigue and murder, it tells the tale of Lin Chong, a military instructor sent into exile because he has a beautiful wife coveted by members of the Gao family. Lin's escort is bribed to kill him, but he is saved by his friend Lu. After further attempts on his life Lin finally finds security on the mountain. Mountains, as well as grasslands, rivers and waterfalls, are common sites in Chinese tales inspired by folklore, which plays an important part in modern Chinese music. Cairo's audiences seem increasingly to be on a strict regime: highlights are thinly rationed. The Chinese Week was organised to celebrate the opening of the new Chinese Cultural Centre, which, in turn, was established to develop cultural ties and communication between China and Egypt. It included, as well as the performances above, the China Acrobatic Ensemble and an exhibition of art covering the gamut of contemporary Chinese production. It was a well-thought out, and at times beautiful programme. It deserved a far larger audience.
