Amal Choucri Catta revels in symphony Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conductor Andreas Sporri presenting Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 29 September, Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria, 30 September, 9.30 pm Concerts of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra opened the new season at the opera's Main Hall. The first concert gave us Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana", while the second was dedicated to Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Both were performed under the baton of the symphonists' chief conductor, Andreas Sporri, with a special wink to Mozart who seems to be among the maestro's favourites. His second concert opened beautifully with the Overture to"The magic flute", KV 620, an interesting work performed with particular care. Mozart's last opera, which reached the stage of a suburban Viennese theatre on 30 September 1791, was "The magic flute" -- for which his fellow Freemason, the colourful actor and all-round man of the theatre Emanuel Schikaneder provided the fairy-tale libretto. While many interpretations of the work's strange blend of low comedy and Enlightenment philosophy have been suggested, it is widely agreed that a Masonic element forms part of its make-up. Mozart's repeated use of the symbolism of the number "three" -- in the overture's key signature where we have three flats, or the three chords that open it, an idea later repeated in the opera itself -- is a typically Masonic reference. The searching harmonies of the Overture's slow introduction give way to an Allegro begun by intricate fugual writing, characterising the combination of complexity with entertainment that marks the opera as a whole. The Overture's slow section is searching, its unusual harmonic touches creating an air of mystery. The main Allegro begins with a fast solo line marked "piano", but with "forte" accents which Mozart treats fugually. A solo flute becomes prominent as we approach the second subject. The Allegro comes to a halt and three wind chords, each sounding three times, intervene in the development, pointing once again to the symbolic importance of numbers in the overall scheme. Mozart would have loved the Maestro on the podium as well as the instrumentalists who did their best to get his mood right. Though Richard Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were born 24 years apart, and the number of their documented meetings is very small, it is certain that they were on friendly terms and esteemed each other highly. They even played occasionally in quartet parties. Both were, furthermore, Freemasons, though Haydn's membership of the order, unlike Mozart's, was almost entirely passive. More importantly, their appreciation of each other's talent was generous and sincere, marked either in dedications or in such comments as Haydn's to Mozart's father Leopold, stating that his son was "the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name". That night at the Main Hall Haydn's "Sinfonia Concertante" in B-flat Major, for oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and orchestra, Hoboken 105, in three movements, followed Mozart's Overture. It is a hybrid genre, combining characteristics of the concerto and the symphony, rather like chamber music with symphonic elements. The four young soloists were Wessam Ahmed on the oboe, Tamer Kamal on the bassoon, Yasser Ghoneim on the violin and Mohamed Salah on the cello. They are promising musicians, visibly on their way to glory. Their performance was quite enchanting. All four were leading instrumentalists with the Cairo Conservatoire Orchestra before turning into soloists -- the stars among Cairo's symphonists. Wessam Ahmed, the oboist, has actively participated in a number of German Chamber Ensembles, such as the Frankfurter Blaeser Serenade, Pro Musica Darmstadt and the International Japanese Wind Quartet. He also won several prizes and worked with the famous Daniel Barenboim and the soloist Yo-Yo Ma in 1999. As for the bassoonist, Tamer Kamal, he pursued his postgraduate studies at the Geneva Conservatoire while working with orchestras such as the Suisse Romande, the Bienne Orchestra and the Symphonietta de Lausanne, giving a number of concerts in several foreign countries. The young violinist Yasser Ghoneim toured Germany and performed with the Mediterranean Sea Orchestra, while the cellist, Mohamed Salah performed in Russia, Germany and Spain. He is currently undertaking his postgraduate studies at the Cairo Conservatoire. All four excelled in the Cadenza while brilliantly sharing several sequences with the rest of the orchestra. That night, the concert came to a close with Ludwig van Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in A Major, Opus 92. In these super-modern times, the revered gentleman seems to be winning a new title, turning into "the greatest musical revolutionary of his time". Writers and critics explore his career today, ascertaining how he "broke every rule in the book" and that "no one had composed like this before". Just beginning to establish himself as supreme virtuoso in the "city of virtuosos", Beethoven was struck by the worst fate that can befall a musician. Doctor after doctor told him it was a temporary blockage that would clear. But he knew they were wrong. It was a long, slow, graduate decline into total deafness and his music, first heroic, then introspective and finally emotional beyond words, reflects his struggle to cope with his loss of hearing. It seems that his ambition to be recognised as a composer in Vienna only came about because of his virtuosity on the piano. The doors to aristocratic salons opened to him. His great skill was improvisation, and he saw off every one of the city's virtuosos in "improvisation contests". Of his nine symphonies, the Seventh seems to be among the most discussed by critics and music-lovers. According to one such critic, "Many parts of this symphony exude dance and march rhythms while rhythm itself seems to be the driving force of the work. Each of the movements grows out of a rhythmic figure that characterises the whole movement. In emphasising the rhythmic aspects, Beethoven seems to have limited the use of melody, and some of the rhythmic figures are defined by one note, while others are understated, allowing the listeners to concentrate on the rhythmic force. Wagner called this symphony the very apotheosis of dance." Be that as it may, Beethoven did not love the Seventh. Late in life he was asked which of his symphonies he was most proud of. "The Eroica," he replied. "But I should have the Fifth," the interviewer said. "No," answered Beethoven. "The Eroica". He never could forget his hero. Just as the Cairo symphonists could not forget their Beethoven. They did a good job under the Maestro's brilliant baton, deserving all the applause and the cheers they got.
