If you think that a violin and guitar cannot form a harmonious musical duo, then you are wrong. Rania Khallaf was carried miles high by the magic melodies Guitarist Emad Hamdi and violinist Hassan Sharara presented one of their successful duos at the open air theatre at the Cairo Opera House two weeks ago. Their concert was listed in the Opera House's 2009 summer nights programme. It was not the first time the pair had performed on the Opera House stage, but good news seems to travel slowly these days and it was the first time that I and many other members of the audience had seen them together. The concert therefore came as a breath of fresh: all you had to do was to take a deep breath and enjoy. "This duo is the only one of its kind in Egypt and the Arab world," says Hassan Sharara, who is an internationally renowned violinist. "The unique thing about the duo is that it combines classical and light music with dance rhythms such as tango and samba. This is the secret, and this is why the music we play attracts a wide section of young people, even though some of the tunes we play date back to the 1950s and 60s." Sharara turned 60 this year, so much of the music is of his generation. The idea of a duo came about in 2002. Hamdi -- who at the time an established guitar soloist at the Opera House -- and Sharara thought that a duet between a guitarist and violinist could work brilliantly to make good music. They were inspired by the famous Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini, who was also a guitarist and composer and wrote compositions for guitar and violin including a sonata in E minor, a cantabile in D minor, and variations on a theme by Rossini. There was still a lack of original compositions for violin and guitar, and so Hamdi began to adapt international compositions written for piano and guitar such as pieces by Pablo De Sarasate. One of De Sarasate's compositions that the duo played at their last concert was "Romanza Andaluza". "Over the past six years I have been searching for original compositions for the two instruments in international musical libraries, and it's a hard mission," Hamdi says. "We want to present new compositions at every concert we give, but it requires a lot of training." During the performance the violin, as a melodic instrument, plays the main melody, while the guitar is the accompanist. Hamdi has the task of choosing the programme for each concert as well as adapting new compositions. This is not the first project Hamdi has initiated, He has performed several duets with performers such as soprano Iman Mustafal; pianist Elena Dzamashvil; and soprano Niveen Allouba."Unfortunately, most of them are too busy with their repertoires to continue. The only duo that has survived is the one with Sharara," Hamdy says. "The unique thing about Sharara is that he excels in playing both oriental and international music." Sharara has a rich musical background to draw on: his father is the famous violinist Atiya Sharara. The auditorium at the open theatre was almost full. Most of the people there were young, many of them fans of Spanish and Latin music. Even though tunes and tempo are unfamiliar to the mainstream Egyptian audience, their following is increasing. "Tango La Cumparsita" by Matos Rodriguez, and "Granada" by Agustin Lara, among other melodies, was warmly received by the audience. "The secret of the popularity of our duo is that we play familiar music that the audience can taste. In general, international music is distinguished by its polyphonic melodies, which is not well-received by the most members of an Egyptian audience who prefer monophonic melodies," Hamdi says. "We also play some popular music and songs from Argentina and Brazil, which are very recognizable here," adds Sharara, who is an ex-director of the Conservatoire. He explains that all popular music in the world is very intimate to all listeners, "simply because people worldwide have a lot in common, and because Latin American peoples have such a sense of humour which you are likely to find with Egyptians." In addition to popular music and medleys, the duo also played excerpts from sound tracks of films such as Secret Garden, Scent of a Woman and Emmanuelle. The music they play, especially a piece like "Espana Cani" by Pasqual Marquini, is so good that one would like to hear it recorded on a CD or cassette. "I intend to start project like this, but it requires a good distributor, which is something that seems difficult these days," Hamdi says. Sharara claims that the Opera House's publicity and marketing machines are not very effective. "We have performed in many places in Cairo and Alexandria but we need to perform in Upper Egypt, Port Said, and other major cities," he says. The duo will play at the Opera House again on 14 September. Hamdi will also perform as a solo guitarist on 4 September at the Wekalet Al-Gouri, where-- as a surprise for fans of the guitar -- his repertoire will be limited to tunes with the title of "Paradise". I am certain that devotees of guitar music will go mad for it.
