The concert, scheduled for 29 October, will mark the opening of the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2024-2025 season. 

Dubbed Incanto Egizio (Egyptian Charms), the concert is part of the Turin orchestra’s “musical discoveries and sound explorations of the past for the 200 years of the Egyptian Museum of Turin,” reads the TPO’s promotional material referencing the museum (Museu Egizio) founded in 1824 in a building that exhibited the Egyptian antiquities purchased by King Charles Felix of Sardinia (1765 – 1831).

As a commission for El-Saedi by the orchestra, Egyptian Scenes will be conducted by Italian maestro Giampaolo Pretto, the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director.

The same evening will also feature Johannes Brahms’ Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.

“The Turin orchestra's management contacted me more than a year ago. It was a pleasant surprise as I was not in contact with Turin before that,” El-Saedi tells Ahram Online days before his travel to the Italian city to attend his work’s premiere.

He then explains that the Egyptian Scenes is a symphonic suite consisting of four movements: introduction, intermezzo, temple dance, and finale. 

The work does not reference Ancient Egypt per se; rather, it is a musical walk through Egypt’s scenes hence its title.

“I place a large importance on the third movement, Temple Dance," he said, underscoring the symphonic character of the composition, to which he refers as "a musical impression." 

This is the first time an Italian body commissioned a musical work for El-Saedi, whose other compositions were played by the Cairo Symphony and several European orchestras, including those in France, Austria, Norway, and Germany.

Following the Italian premiere, El-Saedi aims to continue performing his latest work in Egypt and abroad.

As the Cairo Symphony Orchestra's principal conductor and music director, El-Saedi also revealed the ensemble’s planned tour to Germany in October 2025, with repertoire which “might include the Egyptian Scenes.”

“It will be a long tour with the orchestra visiting eight German cities, with concerts on renowned stages of Berlin, Cologne, and Freiburg, among others,” El-Saedi concluded.

Ahmed El-Saedi
 

El-Saedi is among the best-known figures in Egypt’s Western classical music scene.

His resume boasts dozens of compositions and collaborations with world-renowned orchestras across Egypt and internationally prestigious halls.

As a composer, El-Saedi has several works including didactic music, film scores, popular songs, and incidental music for stage and TV productions.

His works for orchestra and chamber music ensembles, piano compositions, and voice have been performed in Egypt and internationally on several occasions.

El-Saedi's work with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra started in the early 1990s.

In 1993, he was appointed principal conductor and music director for the first time, a position he held until 2003. This decade was considered the best in the orchestra’s recent history with the ensemble reaching an international artistic standard. 

In 2014, El-Saedi returned to the Cairo Symphony Orchestra as its principal conductor and music director, a post he holds to date.

Throughout his decades-long music career, El-Saedi received numerous honours, including the State Prize for Composition in Egypt (1995) and the State Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts in Egypt (2000).