Requiems of spring
Amal Choucri Catta counters the Easter blues
Spring and Easter Concerts; Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conductors Ahmed El-Saedi and Yun- Sung Chang; A Capella Choir; Dalia Farouk, soprano; Reda El-Wakil, bass-baritone; Georges Wanis, tenor; Jolie Faizy, mezzo-soprano; Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 12, 19 and 26 April
Easter was particularly generous this year, granting enthralled music lovers three concerts with which to celebrate. The war in Iraq and conditions in Palestine having rendered it a sad and sorrowful time, however, Ahmed El-Saedi decided to mark the occasion with two Requiems. The first concert was wholly dedicated to Johannes Brahms's German Requiem for soloists, choir and instruments, Opus 45 -- brilliantly performed by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra and the A Capella Choir, with soprano Dalia Farouk and bass- baritone Reda El-Wakil, and Ahmed El-Saedi conducting. "Requiem" is the popular term for "missa pro defunctis", the Mass for the Dead; and the text of a Requiem mass differs from that of the normal mass in that it includes "Dies irae", Day of Wrath, while omitting the "Gloria" and the "Credo". This, however, is not the case with Brahms's German Requiem, a non-liturgical piece dedicated to all those who suffer pain and grief. It is a prayer for the souls of the dead and a consolation for the living. The German text was selected from the Lutherian Old and New Testaments by Brahms himself; and adds to the listeners a moving vision of God's limitless glory, of his mercy and compassion, and of the many blessings he bestowed upon humanity.
Both text and music convey the dark message of death, with cellos, violas and basses solemnly expressing sorrow and gloom, though the piece is not devoid of hope; the choir sings, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall find consolation, and those who sow with tears shall reap with joy." Grief returns in the end, however, with the text and music expressing resignation. "Blessed be the dead who have died in the Lord," the choir intoned beautifully as El-Saedi displayed his conducting prowess, leading soloists, choir and orchestra to a sparkling end. Soprano Dalia Farouk, for example, belongs to the latest generation of divas, with a clear timbre that floats above instruments and the choir, rising to dramatic heights with the lines, "You only have sadness, but I shall see you again and your heart shall rejoice." Her impressive voice notwithstanding, she gives a performance as elegant as her general demeanor -- something that might as well be said of bass- baritone Reda El-Wakil, winner of several international competitions, whose timbre never fails to thrill. He is Aida's best- known Ramphis and has been applauded in many title roles both in Egypt and abroad. But it was the maestro who had the lion's share of virtuosity, conducting the orchestra, choir and soloists without making use of any score. This is a feat not many conductors are capable of; and he deserved his ecstatic standing ovation.
The second concert likewise displayed a nearly perfect beauty, with some 13 tunes by Dvorak, Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Strauss Junior dedicated to spring. It opened somewhat mysteriously with Carl-Maria von Weber's enchanting Overture, Opus 27, Ruler of the Spirits, which might be compared to an ancient tale evoking the legendary monarch of the spirit realm and his vain attempts to win the love of a beautiful princess -- breathtaking piece, boldly conducted by Ahmed El-Saedi and eloquently performed by the orchestra. There was plenty of dance, too, from three of Brahms's 21 Hungarian Dances to three of Dvorak's 16 Slavonic Dances. The first trio was reminiscent of gypsy music, while the second trio evoked the Bohemian spirit of Slavonic splendour. The mood was vibrant, incandescent, the strength and vivacity of the dances generated an atmosphere of energy in which percussion, in particular, played an impressive part.
The dances had the additional advantage of ending with two bewitching Capriccios, the first closing, exhilaratingly, with Tchaikovsky's Italian Capriccio, Opus 45, the second with Rimsky-Korsakov's glittering Spanish Capriccio, Opus 34. The first opens with a trumpet call, recreating the intense colours and warm tunes of Italian popular songs, the second -- in five sections -- is a compilation of Spanish folk tunes, opening with an "Alborada" and an "Aubade", and followed by variations that begin solemnly, progressing to a melancholic, mournful tone that leads into the dramatic climax, and closing on a serene note. There were fanfares, violin solos and a Fandango duly accompanied by castanets. The Austrian soprano Ira Lauren, who is not unknown to local audiences, performed four stunning arias. Starting with Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, she sang Susanna's Recitative and Aria, and from the same author's Don Giovanni, gave an interpretation of Zerlina's charming "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto." She returned in the second part of the programme with Johann Strauss Junior's Mein Herr Marquis from Die Fledermaus, the Bat, and closed with Franz Lehar's popular Vilja Song from The Merry Widow. Her performance was charming, but little else. Nor was her appearance as colourful as it might be. Like her performance, she was too angular, too straight, too simple, too black-and- white, with neither jewellery nor make-up. Compared to Korsakov's shimmering Spanish Capriccio, her songs proved disappointing despite the maestro's skill. Applause for the whole concert was so enthusiastic, in fact, at the end the maestro granted his audience the pleasure of two encores.
It was not until the third concert that the second Requiem surfaced; and this time it was Mozart's mysterious, unfinished work, written the year he died. Mozart was only 35 years old when death caught up with him. He was already ill when he was visited by a grey-clad stranger who gave him a letter from the Count of Walsegg, asking for the composition of a Requiem for which he would be paid a large sum of money. Mozart construed this as a message from destiny and, starting work immediately, he wrote a Requiem for himself. Sadly he died before he could complete it. It was only later that his student and disciple, Franz Xaver Sussmayr finished it according to Mozart's instructions. Thus the Requiem in D-Minor, KV 626, for orchestra, soloists and choir, performed, on this occasion, by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra and conducted by the Korean Yun-Ssung Chan, with soprano Dalia Farouk, bass-baritone Reda El-Wakil, tenor Georges Wanis, alto Jolie Faizy and the A Capella Choir under Maya Gwinneria's remarkable guidance. One couldn't have imagined a more marvelous close to the Easter concerts at the Cairo Opera House.
Starting with Mozart's Concerto for piano and orchestra in C-major, KV 467, with the Korean Jung Hwa Moon at the keys, the concert proved interesting in other ways. A young, talented musician who is palpably going places, her touch is a little too merciless and the palm of her right hand a little too low for her to be accomplished. She also has a tendency to either lag behind the orchestra, or rush ahead of it, a rather disruptive fault. Mozart's 21st Concerto for piano is not an easy piece of music, opening with an Allegro Maestoso in which an orchestra Ritornello introduces different themes, ardently executed by the instrumentalists. The Concerto's most popular movement is the Andante, which incorporates an exquisite violin melody, followed by the piano against a background of muted strings and Pizzicatos. The melody is nostalgic, reminiscent of long gone happy days, of a lost love, a last farewell; it is also reminiscent of the laughter of children. The Requiem corrected whatever faults the earlier part of the concert might have had. Dalia Farouk was as stunning as she had been in the first Requiem, though this time sorrow overpowered joy and hope for redemption; meditations on the hereafter took up the larger part of the 12 movements. These were performed by vibrant singers and the instrumentalists, and were duly fascinating: both Reda El-Wakil and Georges Wanis were, as always, excellent, while Jolie Faizy was doing her best. Yun-Sung Chang, too, a prominent younger Korean maestro who studied in Seoul, Vienna, Moscow, Salzburg and Siena and was a student of renowned Zubin Mehta, forming his own chamber ensemble at 21, proved subtle and sincere, enchanting. He too deserved all the applause that he got.
