Choral disciplines
Two choirs herald the onset of Cairo's musical summer, writes Amal Choucri Catta
It is summer, and at Cairo Opera House that often means choirs. Children's choirs have been a regular feature of the Opera's summertime programming for some years now, and 2004 is no exception.
July kicked off with a concert by the Cantus Cum Corde Chamber Choir of Hoerskool Waterkloof, South Africa. It comprises 28 male and female singers, all aged between 10 and 14 years. Their exceptional voices and musical abilities have resulted in the choir being selected to take part in this year's International Choir Olympics in Bremen, Germany.
At Cairo Opera's Small Hall they reserved the first part of their concert to musica sacra a capella, focussing on four essential works dating from the 15th century onward. A Capella (or alla cappella ) applied to choral music generally means "in church style", unaccompanied, like 16th century and other church music. the voices are without piano or any other instrument.
The evening began with Tu solus qui facis mirabilla, a marvellously interpreted hymn. The singers' angelic voices continued their praise of the Lord with Justorum Animae and Inclina Domina, closing superbly with Hendrick Hofmeyer's Pie Jesu.
Gees van God and Amarilli were beautifully sung by soloist Hantro Botha, followed by Duivel and Neil van der Watt's Griekwa Praise Song. Four major works from the 20th and 21st centuries were presented in the second part of the programme, including
In My Land, Africa, a lovely hymn Gisella de Villiers composed for the German Choir Olympics and which attempts an evocation of the social and cultural diversity of the continent. The composition is rich in harmonies, with a particularly attractive melodic line. It was followed by Fyra Latinska Sentenser, Summer Christmas, Night Song and In Remembrance. The traditional Austrian lullaby Heidschi Bum Beidschi was interpreted with brilliance by soloist Liana Wessels, who clearly enchanted the audience, while Nicholas von Burick and Leonor Kritzinger came on splendidly with Louis Armstrong's Wonderful World. They did not have his husky voice though they captured something of his spirit. The concert closed with Shosholoza, a colourful traditional song, delightfully interpreted by the group and skillfully led by Neo Moloi. Rich and robust, the choir's phrasing is worthy of praise and its tempi animated. The conductor, Gisela de Villiers, is an experienced musician and composer: her works -- a unique blend of traditional and avant- garde, of African language and European style -- are internationally publicised in Britain and the US and she creates commissioned works for many choirs in South Africa.
De Villiers believes in music as a uniting force, bridging cultures and creating strong bonds between nations. She performs regularly as a soloist and guest speaker and believes that music should serve, above all, "to praise the Creator". In past years Cairo audiences have often applauded the excellent performances of South African choirs: this time the applause was, once again, sincerely appreciative. The choir's tuning was impeccable, pulsating with energy, passion and a quite unfettered joy.
July's second choir came from France: Maitrise des Hauts de Seine, the children's choir of the Paris National Opera, presented one performance at Alexandria's Sayed Darwish Theatre and another at Cairo's Gumhouriya Theatre. The group was composed of 36 girls and 10 adults, including the pianist and soloist. Theirs was a concert of a different kind: beginning with church music and arias from several operas, they reserved the second part of their programme to the German lieder ending, however, with Francis Poulenc's Petites Voix. There was little, if any, couleur locale in their concert which did not include any examples of the many enchanting songs for children that are so much a part of the French tradition. There is no absolute reason why choirs, especially children's choirs, should begin their concerts with church music though they usually do. The French choir started with an aria from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. He was one of the greatest Neapolitan composers of the 18th century, though he died at the early age of 26. Born in 1710, he was a talented composer of comic operas: his Serva Padrona is included in Cairo Opera's lyric repertoire. He wrote his Stabat Mater -- a devotional musical poem about the Virgin Mary's vigil by Christ's cross -- in 1736, at the convent of Puozzoli where he retired knowing that he would die that same year. The choir's second and third arias were from one of Antonio Vivaldi's three Glorias, a song of the angels announcing the birth of Christ, while the third was an aria from one of the same author's two Magnificat s, a canticle of the Virgin Mary's "My soul doth magnify the Lord", as it appears in the Gospel of Saint Luke.
Vivaldi is best known in Egypt for the Four Seasons, a perennial pop-classic. Born in Venice in 1676, he died in Vienna in 1741, leaving such a vast instrumental output his works have yet to be fully published. Between 1965 and 1976 over 100 previously unknown musical pieces by Vivaldi have been discovered in different European libraries. Until now we know of 500 concertos, 100 operas and several hundred other musical works.
Turning to opera, the audience was given two arias from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Magic Flute and an aria from Bastien and Bastienne. These were followed by Julietta's aria from Benjamin Britten's The Little Sweep, according to a libretto by Enric Cruozier. The work, Opus 45, which goes under the title Entertainment for Young People, is in two parts -- the first concerns the preparations by children and adults to put on an opera, while the second is the opera itself. The Little Sweep is set in 1810 and tells the story of Sammy's encounter with the children living at Iken Hall. The children manage to free Sammy from Black Bob, his master. It is a lovely piece of music and was perfectly interpreted.
After presenting Italian, Austrian and British composers, the young French singers returned to France for Yniold's aria from Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Melisande, a five-act opera in 12 tableaux with a rather complicated plot based on Maeterlinck's tragedy and premiered in Paris in 1902. Yniold is the young son of Golaud by his first marriage. A widower, Golaud finds the mysterious Melisande weeping in the forest and marries her. She falls in love with Golaud's brother, Pelléas, who shares the same feelings for her. They never talk about their love, though Golaud uses his son Yniold to spy on them. That is when he reports they "are sitting in silence". In the end Golaud kills Pelléas and Melisande dies giving birth to a child, never answering the question as to whose the child is. The solos and trios were magnificently interpreted while the choir itself was superbly expressive.
The Maitrise des Hauts de Seine was created in 1985, comprising at the same time a male and a female choir, and the choir for children. In 1996 the Maitrise was officially named the Children's Choir of Paris National Opera with around 300 youngsters between seven and 16 years of age, under the musical and artistic guidance of Gael Darchen. They are regular participants in festivals and competitions.
They began the second part of their concert with a serenade by Austrian Franz Schubert. An extremely prolific composer, among his many symphonies and other works are several hundred particularly melodious lieder. Then came the Robert Schumann with his Opus 29, followed by three duets from songs by Johannes Brahms. They were all beautifully interpreted, yet they seemed to be somewhat out of place for an all-French choir.
Finally the concert closed with Petites Voix which French composer Francis Poulenc wrote in 1936, the year he embarked on what would emerge as his finest achievements. Born in 1899 Poulenc died in 1963: he is considered one of the most important composers of the early 20th century. His music, eclectic yet strongly personal in style, is essentially diatonic and melodious, embroidered with 20th century dissonances. His Small Voices were fascinating and Gilles Nicolas at the piano, was excellent.
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