Classical coup in the capital

The much sought after Bayreuth Festival Orchestra finds an enthusiastic audience in a rare foray out of Germany.

Violinists with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra rehearse ahead of the Abu Dhabi Classics Wagner gala at the Emirates Palace hotel.

ABU DHABI // The soaring harmonies and emotional power of Richard Wagner's operatic masterpieces flowed over an elegant and appreciative audience last night at the Emirates Palace hotel - and the rest of the world could only look on in envy. The famous Bayreuth Festival Orchestra was making its debut in the Middle East as part of the Abu Dhabi Classics season, and it was quite a coup. The queue to see this orchestra perform at its home in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth is 10 years long.

"Everybody is dying to have them - New York, Moscow, Paris - but they came to Abu Dhabi," said Till Janczukowicz, executive director of Abu Dhabi Classics. "They know that Abu Dhabi is very serious about its cultural vision. Having them perform here is a very important signal being sent out to the world." The concert had been hugely anticipated. Women wearing long evening gowns and embellished abayas gathered in the palm-lined atrium. As the orchestra assembled to tune up, they were greeted by a long round of applause. At the first interval, the performers received a standing ovation.

The Bayreuth Festival Orchestra is made up of eminent members of other ensembles, mainly from Germany. They come together in summer months to play at Bayreuth, where Wagner lived from 1872 until his death in 1883 at the age of 69. The annual festival draws thousands and the waiting list for tickets can be as long as 10 years. In its 120-year history, the orchestra has performed outside Europe only once before, in Japan in 1989.

Last night's performance, led by conductor Christian Thielemann, included excerpts from Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, a four-part opera that took 26 years to complete. Earlier Katharina Wagner, the composer's great-granddaughter, took part in a workshop and discussion about his music. Ms Wagner, 30, spoke to about 40 Wagner enthusiasts about her passion for the music and her role as the new co-director of the Bayreuth Festival - having taken over from her father Wolfgang.

Famous for her own innovative stagings of the operatic works, including a controversial performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg two years ago that was greeted with boos and jeers, Ms Wagner said last night's programme was more conventional as suited a young festival. It included some of Wagner's most popular works, including Act 1 of Die Walküre, the second part of the Ring cycle. "We chose a pretty nice programme," she said. "Normally Wagner is very emotional music, so people react in two ways: they love it or they hate it. Probably there's no other way around this, but I don't think you need so much to know about Wagner to get the music."

Ms Wagner said the quality of the programme should help to establish the Abu Dhabi Classics series as an international music festival. "It is very high class, so people will always travel. They travel around the whole world to see good performances." During the event, Ms Wagner also discussed the difficulties of fully staging an opera in the Middle East, taking into account cultural sensitivities and Richard Wagner's abiding interest in Oriental poetry, literature and philosophy.

Last night's concert closed the Abu Dhabi Classics season's opening weekend, but there is much more to come. The year-long programme will bring the most talented performers to venues including Abu Dhabi's National Theatre and Al Ain's Al Jahlili fort. The opening gala on Friday night, entitled Journey of Emotions, led the audience on a musical odyssey across the world. Jeremy Irons, the Oscar-winning British actor, hosted the evening, introducing a collection of diverse and colourful artists.

Roby Lakatos, the Hungarian violinist, known as the Devil's Fiddler, opened the show with a lively performance that blended gypsy idioms with classical themes. The journey continued with a performance by Egypt's Musicians of the Nile, before moving on to Germany with jazz trumpeter Till Bronner, Russia - homeland of Arcadi Volodos, the classical pianist, and across the Atlantic to the United States, with a performance by Indra Thomas, the American soprano. Francisco José Arcángel Ramos, the Spanish flamenco artist, provided an impassioned finale.

The Classics season is an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) and part of the Government's drive to make the capital an international centre for culture and arts. Addressing the audience at Friday's opening gala, Zaki Nusseibeh, Adach's deputy chairman, said the season will help to strengthen the musical knowledge of young and old alike. "During this important musical event, which runs throughout the year, Adach will present the people of the UAE and thousands of guests coming from abroad, with beautiful moments of magical world music conducted by the most famous of musicians and orchestras," he said.

The next concert in the season takes place at the Emirates Palace on Nov 21 with South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim's African Landscapes. The following night Cecilia Bartoli, the Grammy-winning Italian opera singer, will perform accompanied by the Basel Chamber Orchestra. Tickets for Abu Dhabi Classics are available at Virgin Megastores, from www.timeouttickets.com, or by calling 800-4669.

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