Conducted by Hisham Gabr, the Cairo Opera Orchestra is to transport its audience into the word of Georges Bizet (1838-1875), a French composer of the Romantic era, on Friday, 6 February. The 140th anniversary of the composer’s death falls in June this year.
Bizet’s name is most often associated with the opera Carmen, but several of his other works also testify to the mastery of his craft and to his sensitivity.
The Cairo Opera Orchestra will play L'Arlesienne suites number 1 and number 2, and Symphony in C.
Both suites are based on Bizet's incidental music for a play titled l'Arlesienne by Alphone Daudet. The first suite was compiled by the composer himself and includes four movements: prelude, menuet, adagietto and carillon. As for the second, it is made up of pastorale, intermezzo, minuetto, farandole, and was compiled by fellow French composer Ernest Guiraud four years after Bizet's death.
Symphony in C is among Bizet’s earlier works, as he composed it in 1855, during his studies at the Paris Conservatory. For many years, the symphony remained on the shelves of the conservatory, as one of the many testimonies to the school's creative capacities. It was only in 1933, long after Bizet's death, that the composition came to light and saw its premiere in Switzerland in 1935. Hailed as a youthful masterpiece and an emotional outburst, the symphony has since become one of Bizet's frequently played works.
Programme:
Friday 6 February, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, main hall, Zamalek, Cairo
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