An orchestra on song

The UAE National Symphony Orchestra set itself a musical challenge – then excelled.

So the UAE's National Symphony Orchestra has summoned the courage to stage what it dubbed a "proper" concert. As the orchestra's musical director and conductor Andy Berryman put it, that meant putting aside the populist show tunes, songs from films and light classical pieces, tackling instead challenging technical numbers like Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op 43 and Carmina Buranda.

This involved a degree of risk – Rhapsody is considered to be one of the most difficult piano pieces around – and Berryman joked about how the NSO omitted having an interval at its earlier concerts in case the audience ran away and never returned.

But there is no success without a degree of risk and in this case the NSO’s 60 musicians, representing 20 nationalities, showed how far it has come since its early performances. Emirati soprano Balqees Al Fathi impressed with operatic arias opera solos as easily as Khaleeji songs, Ioannis Potamousis was a triumph in Rhapsody and the participating choirs excelled at Carmina Burana.

In a sense, the NSO reflects the UAE and its capital: different voices working with a common goal to make something remarkable.