Plain Talk

By Mursi Saad El-Din

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I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Opera House. To an exceptionally full house the orchestra presented an interesting, lightish programme in two parts; the first part was the overture of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, followed by Chopin's Piano Concerto No 1 in E-minor. The soloist was our very own Ramzi Yassa, who has established an international reputation. The second part was Dvorak's Symphony No 9 "New World".

The occasion brought back memories that went back to 1946, when I had the pleasure of witnessing the birth of the orchestra at the hands of the great British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. The aim behind the formation of the Orchestra was to "bring world class performances of the greatest music written to the length of the country", a legacy that the Orchestra truly has maintained during its sixty years of existence.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra uses its schedule in London as "the springboard of a comprehensive regional touring programme". It also gives open-air performances across the country throughout the summer each year.

Besides, the Orchestra has toured more than thirty countries in the last five years, including China, the USA, Kazakhstan, Europe and South Korea. And now, for its 60th anniversary celebration, comes the Cairo event.

But the role of the Orchestra does not stop at giving concerts. In 1987 it formed the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, which has been working with international celebrity artists ranging from Luciano Pavarotti to Sir Cliff Richard and Liza Minnelli.

Presently the Orchestra is conducted by Leonard Slatkin, an internationally recognised conductor. He has made regular appearances with virtually every major international orchestra both in the USA and Europe.

Ramzi Yassa should need no introduction, but, due to his residence abroad, I will nonetheless reintroduce him to our readers. I have followed the career of Yassa from the moment he began his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow. Ramzi has won several international prizes and has played in such venues as the Barbican in London, the Berliner Philharmonic, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Tivoli, the Theatre des Champs Elysees and others. He is now professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, where he has lived since 1977.

The visit of the Orchestra is due to the close cooperation of the Ministry of Education, the British Embassy and the British council. In the programme accompanying the concert, special thanks are given to the Minister of Culture for his "strong belief in sponsoring serious arts, distinguished orchestras and musical groups".

In his introduction to the concert the British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly underlines the fact that cultural exchange between Britain and Egypt is strong, but in the words of the Ambassador "the visit of such a distinguished orchestra raises it to a new level".

The Ambassador also expresses his warmest appreciation to the British and Egyptian companies "who have so generously given to ensure the success of this event in support of healthcare for children in Egypt." Since the proceeds of the event go to the Children's Cancer Hospital, the Orchestra has "kindly agreed to waive fees for the same purpose".

The Orchestra's visit took me even further back to my student years when I was first introduced to classical music. My tutor in the English Department of the Faculty of Arts at Fouad El Awal (now Cairo) University was Dr Louis Awad. He formed the Gramophone Society; and I still remember our first meeting when Dr Awad made us listen to Tchaikovsky's Sheherezade. It was some kind of revelation to my colleagues and myself. Dr Awad's choice of Sheherezade was a clever one, due first to our knowledge of the Arabian Nights and the semi- Oriental character of the piece. Thus began my journey with classical music, which later took me to London for twelve long years, during which I became a regular at the famous Promenade concerts. But that is a different story.