Steven Lloyd speaks to Amal Choucri Catta When Steven Lloyd walked onto the podium of Cairo Opera's Main Stage for his first concert as principal conductor and musical director of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in September 2005, little did the audience or orchestra know that here was a man of incredible willpower, ardour, enthusiasm, an extraordinary love of music. Though the youngest of Cairo's principal conductors, Lloyd's popularity grew rapidly and he was soon respected and appreciated by musicians and audiences alike. Many of his admirers were deeply disappointed to realise that his term in Egypt was coming to an end quite so soon -- his last concert on Saturday 30 June. And it would have been a lovely concert, too, with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the A Cappella Choir and vocal soloists, had it not been cancelled at the last minute to be replaced by Arabic music. We all thought the Beethoven concert would be rescheduled: it could have taken place on any other day. But the cancellation was final, something that was undoubtedly unfair to Steven Lloyd, as well as to his numerous listeners, who think he deserved to be treated with more respect by Cairo Opera's management. Steven Lloyd has done a splendid job in the last two seasons, and we have therefore asked him to give us his personal opinion of his work with Cairo Symphony Orchestra. "What I wanted," he replied, "was to elevate the orchestra to a deserved status. As Cairo is one of the world's greatest cities, I felt that Cairo should have a great orchestra. But that is not achievable in two years. That's a five-year plan, a five-year programme, minimum, and you need a lot of financial support. The principal conductor also needs the power to make the necessary changes, in order to be able to implement his beliefs and his philosophies. That was certainly not the case with me, it was not the case with Christoph Mueller, and it wasn't the case with Sergio Cardenas. That was not the case with any conductor: the last time that was the case, the conductor in charge was Ahmed El-Saedi. So, in that sense, I feel the orchestra has been playing very well in the past two years and we have had some great concerts. I am happy with the orchestra and I am sure they can achieve great things; but they need support and they need the right leadership. Now that I am leaving, the leadership falls to a man who has been given eight programmes for the entire next season: Andreas Sporry, from Switzerland, who is not going to be principal conductor, but "principal guest conductor", which is an impossible situation, because Andreas Sporry should have the same number of concerts I had, and he should have the power of Ahmed El-Saedi. He should be given that authority. A principal guest conductor with only eight concerts can do absolutely nothing. Eight concerts can be very nice, but what can be done for the orchestra? And where is the power? He won't have any power at all. A principal conductor and artistic director must be given the power, he must be able to lead the orchestra: Andreas Sporry is an experienced conductor, he should be given more. "I have made a public speech to the orchestra in the presence of the management and I told the chairman of the opera my feelings. I also said that, unless elements of the management change, I shall not be coming back to the Opera House as guest conductor. That is the situation. All along my one concern has always been with the orchestra, because nobody cares about the welfare of that orchestra. Nobody cares about the fact that Egyptians are paid far less than foreign players; nobody cares that the orchestra are playing too many concerts in the season and that they need to tour more. Nobody cares about all that. Another question: Who is going to train the orchestra? Andreas Sporry, with eight programmes? Hardly. All this is very convenient for the management: he comes, he goes. But what happens when he goes? The point is, here I found an orchestra I have enjoyed working with, and I feel very close to the musicians, which is why I speak of them fondly. I want to protect them as much as I can, but there is nothing I can do any more, though I have done all I could. My wish, however, is that the Egyptian government, the Ministry of Culture will start to take care of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, because it needs it, the players need it, and there is great talent in the orchestra. There are some people there, who really should be sorted out, there are people who need to retire and some who need to withdraw, some who are too young, too inexperienced to play in the orchestra, but the core of the orchestra are superb: they really can achieve a lot with the right maestro. But the management must understand that the principal conductor and artistic director must have complete control. If you don't like it, at the end of the contract, you don't renew it, then you pick somebody else; you give him a three-year contract and at the end of three years, if you're not happy, you don't renew the contract. But I believe that selecting a new principal conductor every one or two years for this orchestra is near fatal. "Look at the history: 2002-2003 was Ahmed El-Saedi's last season, 2003-2004 was Sergio Cardenas', 2004-2005 was Christoph Mueller's, 2005-2007 was Steven Lloyd's, 2007 till who- knows will be Andreas Sporry's; and it will just go on and on. It is criminal that this is happening. In the space of time, from the end of Ahmed El-Saedi to the end of my time, there should have been one, maximum two principal conductors. The Cairo Symphony Orchestra has been manipulated, pushed around and exploited: it is an absolute crime. I am saying now, for the record, that the orchestra needs help, they need great support and they need a maestro who is going to stay around for a long time. He must be supported by the minister of culture and by the chairman of the opera: he must be getting that support and if it doesn't work out in three years, you can have somebody else, but you don't keep on changing every season and you certainly don't make the maestro's life hell for the duration of his contract. Because that doesn't help anybody at all. Most of the maestros, myself, Christoph Mueller, Sergio Cardenas, we are all foreigners: what impressions do we have when we go back, what do we tell the people about the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in our country or wherever we are based? It doesn't do the reputation of Cairo Symphony Orchestra any good. There is no reason why Cairo cannot have a great orchestra. So that is why I say there must be hope, there must be optimism, for as long as there is an orchestra, there is a chance, but you should have the right people looking after it. This orchestra doesn't have the right people looking after it. And that is what it needs. In parting, I say to the orchestra, 'God bless you'. I say thank you for two wonderful years of music making. I will miss them terribly, but I sincerely wish them all the very best for their future and I hope and pray to God that they get the support they deserve from the management..."
