THE recent Cairo concert of the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, known as the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra, was an important musical event. The orchestra was established in 1946 and played a significant role in spreading the interest in classical music for several generations in post-war Germany. It also attracted a number of great names in the world of classical music, both players and conductors. Since 1990 Sylvain Cambreling is its chief conductor. The orchestra has 100 players of superbly professional qualities. Two factors helped make their concert at the Cairo Opera House a great success. First, most of the programme was presented in Egypt for the first time, namely Bartok's second violin concerto and Schubert's Symphony in C major known as “The Great”. Second, the Austrian violinist' international fame Thomas Zehetmair was a promise of an unforgettable performance. The concerto was the gem of that evening. It has a number of beautiful folkloric music on the one hand, and technical challenges for the soloist on the other. It was simply a great choice. The first work in the programme, however, represented one of the common overtures played by Cairo Symphony Orchestra. It was K.M. von Weber's overture of opera “Oberon”. The second part of the program was occupied by one of Shubert's longest symphonies (55 minutes). This symphony is known as his ninth symphony. According to the renumbering of the great Austrian composer's, the symphony turned out to be his eighth. This latter number is usually assigned to Schubert's famous symphony “The Unfinished”, which was frequently played in Egypt. The audience enjoyed the precision and virtuosity of Zehetmair, the clearest exposition of which was in the cadenza at the end of the first movement. The musical dialogue between the orchestra and the soloist was breath-taking. In general, all the instrumental sections in the orchestra offered a first class performance. The chosen works showed the orchestra's potentials. Noteworthy was the seating position of the orchestra players on the stage, for it was different from the traditionally common arrangement followed by the Egyptian orchestras. This rearrangement accentuated the resonance of the instrumental sections in the orchestra and granted the Egyptian audience a new acoustic experience. Although this programme was new, we hoped that this able orchestra would present a type of works, such as modern or contemporary classical music, which are too difficult to be played by Cairo Symphony Orchestra. This would have been a real addition to the Egyptian classical musical circles and a great opportunity for the Egyptian audience to listen live to such works. Moreover, this was one of the rare occasions when an entire foreign orchestra gives a concert at the Cairo Opera House. A discussion about the programme and its details should be always on the agenda when inviting such orchestras. Regrettably, this point has been repeatedly overlooked. ([email protected])
