CAIRO - The symphonic concert ‘An Evening with Brahms' was recently performed in the Main Hall at the Cairo Opera House. The first work to be performed in the 52nd season of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra since the recent revolution, it also introduced us to Hisham Gabr, the flutist, in his new role as a professional orchestral conductor. Gabr, who joined the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in 1992, is famous for composing music for feature, short and documentary movies, as well as for Egyptian and international theatrical productions. In my view, the programme would have been marvellous, if it had been performed before the revolution, as it included works far removed from Egypt's current patriotic atmosphere. I think, just now, something with an Egyptian flavour would have been more suitable – rousing, nationalistic works, like Youssef Grees' ‘The Egyptian Symphony', Refaat Garannah's ‘The 6th October Symphony', Abou Bakr Khairat's ‘The Revolution Symphony' or Fouad el-Zahari's ‘The Revolutionary Land'. Such works have rarely been presented since the death of Youssef el-Sisi, a conductor known for his strong sense of nationalism and patriotism and who loved nationalistic works like Beethoven's ‘Wellington's Victory' and others. As for ‘An Evening with Brahms', Gabr did very well, especially as he was making his debut as a conductor. Gabr presented two works by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): the ‘Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello and Orchestra' (Op. 120.), also known as the ‘Double Concerto', and ‘Symphony No.3 in F Major' (Op. 90). The ‘Double Concerto' was Brahms' last orchestral work, composed in 1887 in Switzerland. It was officially performed in Germany in 1888 by Brahms' friends, the Hungarian violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and cellist Robert Hausmann (1852-1902). The importance of this concerto lies in the fact that Brahms had to tackle the technical difficulty of writing for two stringed instruments with a similar symphonic usage, but a very different flavour. The concerto is considered a truly romantic work of the Baroque era, employing the two solo instruments, violin and cello, as a concertino against the body orchestra. Back to the present orchestra, it was very appropriate for a romantic work that Basma Abdel-Rahim (violin) and her husband Kamel Salah el-Din (cello) should be chosen. The concerto, composed of three movements, was admirably conducted by Gabr, who managed to harmonise the stringed instruments with the movements.The tempo was right, while the gradual ups and downs of the cello were really beautiful. The third movement, with its Hungarian flavour, was originally dedicated to Brahms' Hungarian friend Joseph Joachim. During the recent performance at the Cairo Opera House, this particular movement was particularly impressive. The use of both wind and stringed instruments in this movement was a big challenge for Gabr, who managed to handle it well.
