The Cairo Opera House’s (COH) annual celebration of the holy month of Ramadan comprised some 41 events, 36 of which were held in the opera##s theatres in
The best of the oldies
As part of its varied programme, the COH organised a performance presented by Al-Takht al-Arabi, the “Arab orchestra”, conducted by Yasser Moawwad. The performance included some of the best loved ‘oldies’ of the diva Umm Kolthoum who was in her lifetime termed “the star of the Orient”, and Abdel-Halim Hafez whose death in the 1970s was mourned by many as a national disaster. There was also some special Ramadan songs derived from folk heritage and sung by major performers of the last century, among whom was Mohamed Abdel-Mutalleb and Zakariya Ahmed.
Moawad comes from a famous musical family. His father was a member of the band that accompanied Umm Kolthoum and travelled with her all over the world. Al-Takht al-Arabi has performed in international festivals in
Abdel-Halim Nuweira’s Arabic music band conducted by Salah Ghobashi chimed in with a concert of religious and romantic oldies at the Gomhouriya Theatre. The music included works by the best 20th century music writers Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Farid al-Atrash and Sayed Darwish. Each of them, in his own right, made major contributions to modern Egyptian and Arabic music, taking it from the Ottoman-dominated melodies of the first half of the 20th century to the authentic Egyptian tunes to which western notes were later added to make the modern mix of today.
Mohamed Mounir gave his annual Ramadan concert at the Opera House, in which he sang from his repertoire of the last 30 years, among them “Allah ya Allah”, “Ahmar Shafayef” (Lipstick) and “Fi Eshq al-Banat” (In the love of girls). The concert was attended by some 40,000 spectators.
