28 Feb. - 6 March 2002
Issue No.575
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 Feb. - 6 March 2002 Issue No.575 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Plain talk
"Before writing anything you should ask yourself, 'Has anyone else written about the same subject?' If the answer is in the affirmative, then ask, 'Can I deal with the subject in a better or different way?'" Wise words from my London lecturer on creative writing, which came to mind when I began to write in remembrance of our departed colleague David Blake, the subject of a page of obituaries last week.
Having, somehow, missed the procession of remembrances, I now hasten to give a final tribute to a man who not only enriched the contents of the Weekly, but also worked tirelessly to promote both the importance and seriousness of the Cairo musical scene. Blake created something that had not existed in Egypt before -- serious criticism of musical performances.
I would even go further and say that he was responsible for creating a consciousness of classical music and opera among the people of Egypt. The Cairo Opera House was the best witness, and truest beneficiary, of this. I cannot remember, since the Second World War, any serious reviewing of performances in Egypt. During the war years, music critics reviewed performances in The Egyptian Gazette, The Egyptian and The Sphinx magazine. It was a time when Cairo had many venues for music and, as a consequence, music criticism flourished.
Having belonged to the same geriatric age, Blake and I had some common experiences to share. We would often compare notes of our London experiences, of watching Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy Theatre, queuing for the Promenade Concerts or attending performances of chamber music at Wigmore Hall. We both watched and listened to Ram Gopal and Revi Shankar. The enthusiasm he showed reflected his love of Indian culture. We both had the opportunity of seeing Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake at Covent Garden and Moira Shearer in Sleeping Beauty. I remember telling Blake about how, when Shearer fell down in the middle of a pirouette and then got up and resumed dancing, she was met with a thundering ovation. We both had a good laugh, but his comment was quite revealing: "This is an example of the sympathetic relation between the performer and the audience. Instead of booing, the audience cheered."
And this is exactly what David Blake used to do. Instead of booing mediocre performances, he cheered them without being patronising. With a highly sophisticated and technically rich style he managed to boost the morale of our young and up-and-coming artists. He was always kind in his reviews, displaying a humanity which is all to often absent in the work of art critics and reviewers. I cannot remember ever reading a harsh review by him.
I believe I was among the first to meet David Blake when he joined our pioneering group at The Weekly. And I have not missed any of his articles on the many music, opera, ballet and dance events of Cairo. Without him, many of those performances would have sunk without trace, have gone unrecorded. From Blake's reviews a history of the music scene of Cairo in the past decade can be constructed. I cannot think of an occasion, important or ordinary, which he did not cover.
The good old times about which we both reminisced Blake somehow recreated. He was a sentinel at the Opera House, and never deserted that post. He will be missed, not only by his colleagues and readers, but also by the Moushira Issas, Ramzi Yassas and Neveen Alloubas of the Cairo music scene about whom he wrote such beautiful and encouraging reviews.
David Blake, whenever we hear the musical tunes echoing in the Opera House, listen to arias of operas, or watch the dance steps of ballerinas, we shall always remember you.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page