French “Matheus” ensemble kicked off the first concerts of Manial Palace Festival for Classical Music, which runs from October 28 to November 9, at the Manial Palace.
The performance was held under the leadership of its founder, French conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi, which comes within the framework of the “France-Egypt Cultural Year 2019” program.
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Jean-Christophe Spinosi[/caption]
The band provided the fruit of their collaboration with a number of Egyptian soloists, who represented the Eastern music, namely flute player John Samy, percussionist Adel Shams El-Din and lute player Mohamed Abou Zekri, who performed vocally as well, alongside the female opera singers who participated in the show.
The flute tones created a magical atmosphere during Antonio Vivaldi 's four-season composition, an old classical Western music, while the tabla and riq added a unique oriental flavor to traditional opera for the first time during Cypriot song "To Yasemi", and Claudio Monteverdi's “Lamento Della Ninfa”.
The ensemble entertained Cairo Opera House the night before with the same program, as well as the Alexandria Opera House, which witnessed its last concerts in Egypt.
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The Manial concert[/caption]
The Manial concert was more interactive and influential than the other concerts, as Spinosi relied on his comments in English and French, before and after each piece.
Spinosi also explained, using music, his excerpts during "Four Seasons" and how the author expressed the beauty of nature in spring and winter, the wind blows and sheep running in the field and followed by the shepherd to protect them from the bad weather.
The Egyptian music was revamped with a new western flavor, which the French ensemble was able to perform brilliantly, namely Shedd El-Hizam by Sayed Darwish, Longa by Riad Al Sunbati, and el helwa di by Sayed Darwish.
“An Egyptian-French workshop was held in France for a month,” Shams El-Din said.
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the Ambassador of France to Egypt[/caption]
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Mathews opera singer[/caption]
He continued: “All forms of music can be mixed with eastern and western instruments. It is a combination made only with special sense and principles that take account of oriental music so that it do not appear cacophony or repulsive when Western melody added to it, but enter smoothly, increasing the strength of the melody and its psychological impact and meaning, and vice versa,”
SEE managed to get up close and personal with Spinosi after his concert at the Cairo Opera House and before his concert at the Manial Palace.
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Prince Abbas Helmy III[/caption]
The ceremony started with the speech of Prince Abbas Helmy III, the grandson of Khepe Abbas Helmi II, and chairman of the Association of the Friends of Manial Palace Museum.
The festival is financed by the European Union and sponsored by Egypt’s Ministries of Culture and Antiquities.
A representative of the European Union and several public figures, including the Ambassador of France to Egypt, Stephane Romatet, attended the ceremony.
In an interview with SEE, Romatet talked about the Egypt-France Year, which is on the verge of completion, and the French ensemble.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaDF2G9IlKM[/embed]
Contributed by Yara Sameh
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