Beirut set to enjoy the classical strains of Christmas

Chirine Lahoud – 28/11/13

BEIRUT: The Christmas  season is an elastic thing. All sorts  of people have an interest in stretching out the celebrations to make them last  as long as possible. By now tinsel and fake snow have been applied to retail  displays worldwide while canned seasonal music is piped through PA systems. The  elasticity need not be commercial of course. Witness “Beirut  Chants,” the city’s cycle of seasonal  music performances. Organizers have announced that the event’s sixth season will  go ahead on schedule, unfazed by the simmering security concerns that have  prompted so many cancellations in the 2013 cultural calendar. Indeed, the  program is far more diverse than the term “chant” would suggest.

The concert series begins Dec. 1 at Gemmayzeh’s St. Maron  Church with a performance featuring the Antonine University Choir  and  Beirut Chants  Orchestra, all under the baton of Joanna Nachef– the first female conductor in the  Middle East.

The series features concerts by several local choirs – performing at AUB, St. George Orthodox Cathedral  and the National  Evangelical Church.

The program isn’t restricted to choral performances, and includes appearances  by noted soloists – both vocalists and instrumentalists.

Over the course of the event’s three-week schedule,  St. Maron will also host  performances by Russian cellist Boris Andrianov  and pianist Katia Skanavi  on Dec. 9. The church will resonate  with the music of German organ virtuoso Markus Karas  on Dec. 12, while choral ensemble La  Chanterie de Beyrouth promise to perform a program of undisclosed seasonal  favorites on Dec. 22.

St. Elie Church  in Qantari, on the western edge  of central Beirut, has also scheduled several performances.

U.K. pianist Aleksander Szram  will collaborate with Lebanese  flautist Wissam Boustany  on Dec. 7. Another duo  performance that is not to be missed, on Dec. 17, features Italian Francesca Leonardi  on the piano and countryman Francesca Dego  on violin.

Piano-lovers will be pleased to learn that Tatiana Primak-Khoury, the  artist-in-residence at Balamand University, will be coming down to St. Louis  Capuchin on Dec. 10 for a solo recital.  Her program will be a tribute to Lebanese composers.

On Dec. 2, bass-baritone Shady Torbey will combine his ample talents with  pianist Kristina Raczynska  for a duet show.

Having demonstrated his outstanding vocal abilities over the last few years,  youthful Lebanese countertenor Matteo al-Khodr will perform a seasonally  inflected solo program of early music at  St. Louis Capuchin on Dec. 22.

St. Elie Greek Catholic Cathedral  will host a  pair of concerts – that of the St. Stephanos Melode Choir  on Dec. 15, and  Lebanese soprano Nadine Nassar  on Dec. 18.

Of course, no program of classical music would be complete without the  Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra. On Dec. 20, Lebanon’s favorite Lebanese  orchestra will mount the altar of St. Joseph Church, Jesuit, to accompany an  ensemble of solo vocalists – soprano Artemisa Repa, mezzo-soprano singer Jose  Maria Lo Monaco, and bassist Carlo Malinverno.

Lebanese soprano Samar Salame  will draw the curtain on this year’s  festivities on Dec. 23 with “Le Chant des Anges,” a gala recital at  St. Louis  Capuchin Church.

She will be supported in this program of classical hymns and popular folk  songs by the La Sagesse St. John Children’s Choir under the direction of Father Toufic Maatouk  and choir master Nelly Maatouk.

The  Beirut Chants Festival will take place in several venues in  Beirut from  Dec. 1-23. For more information, please visit www.beirutchants.com.

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