THE recent gala concert of the Cairo Opera Orchestra in the Main Hall of the Cairo Opera House was an interesting event for the classical music audience, although a part of the programme does not benefit this orchestra from the technical point of view. The orchestra was conducted by the Italian maestro Giuseppe Monopoli, who is a multigifted artist. In addition to his being a violinist, he is a composer who studied at the hands of great names in the history modern classical music, such as György Ligeti and Philip Glass. He is now a professor in the Puccini Conservatory in Italy. His conducting repertoire extends to both pure music pieces as well as operas, which range from the Baroque period until the 20th century. The soloist of this gala concert was the Japanese pianist Mari Kumamoto. She spent the great deal of her life in Europe especially Spain, where she studied before her final move to Japan. She is now a professor in Osaka University for Arts, and is a prominent figure in the artistic and cultural events in Japan. She has also recorded a large number of CDs of works of Bach, Bizet, Debussy, Schumann, in addition to music from Latin America. In the Cairo concert, she played the famous piano concerto of George Gershwin in F major. The classical music fans like this work, and it was a good opportunity to enjoy it under the baton of a masterly conductor and a good pianist. Kumamoto's interpretation of Gershwin's work shows her understanding of the technical and interpretative requirements of the piece. Monopoli, on the other hand, added immensely to the success of this concerto. The opening and final tunes of the work were performed in a brilliant way with a perfect tempo. He also managed to create and keep the balance needed between the piano solo parts and the orchestral performance as was clear in the second movement, which was characterised by the Blues mood. Here the trumpets and clarinets give the American touch of the jazz music until a pianist climax is reached and dissolved in a rapidly rhythmic manner. The pianist's performance at the end of this movement was acceptable, though not too close to the spirit of the work. The third movement, however, was a great success, where Kumamoto's virtuosity was presented in its utmost vigour. The vivid and bright finale was fervently applauded by the audience. The concert contained two pieces from the old repertory of the Cairo Opera Orchestra. These are the famous intermezzo from Mascagni's opera “Cavaleria Rusticana”, and the overture of Johan Strauss' opera Feldermouse. Thanks to the conductor's choice, three new works could be presented in this concert and represent a real addition to the orchestra and its audience. Two of these works were composed by the celebrated Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. They are two intermezzos from two rarely produced operas of Puccini, “Manon Lescaut”, and “Suor Angelica” (Sister Angelica). The third work was the overture of Wagner's opera “Tannhäuser”. Although Monopoli's interpretation of the Puccini's music was very good, his treatment of Wagner's work was not up to the tast of the fans of German giant composer. The most important piece of this concert was the first suite of Carmen by the French composer George Bizet. It consists of five movements and was performed brilliantly by the Cairo Opera Orchestra. On the other hand, the gala concert gave the audience a great chance to see on the stage the talented players of this orchestra, such as the percussionist Hisham Kamal, the clarinetists Sarah Ahmed, Mohamed Moustafa, and Remon Nuri, the bassoonists Ayman Gheriani and Mohamed Afifi, the trumpet players Ahmed Shenwany and Ahmed Mounir, and the violist and orchestra leader George Bierers. The orchestra showed a wonderful ensemble spirit that satisfied the classical music audience and made this gala concert a real success. ([email protected])
