The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the first Family Concert in 2010, at Aspire Zone, Ladies Club on January 30th at 5 pm.

The program will consist of two famous pieces, starting with the Nutcracker Suite. The music for The Nutcracker was composed by Tchaikovsky in 1892 for a ballet, which depicts the dream-like story of a young girl named Clara who anxiously awaits Christmas morning and spends the night dreaming of vivid scenes with wonderful characters, including a toy Nutcracker shaped as a soldier in uniform during a Christmas celebration.

The Suite is part of the second act of The Nutcracker, in which the Prince escorts Clara to the Land of Sweets, where they are welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy. When the Prince describes their daring battle with the mice army, the fairy rewards them with a celebration of dances. Different nationalities are represented by the dances of the sweets. When the ballet was created, several foreign delicacies were very special and rare. The dances of the sweets represent delicacies that were considered special enough to be a part of Clara’s fantasy world.

Saint-Saens’s Carnival of the Animals will be the other piece performed in this Family Concert. The Carnival of the Animals is a musical suite of 14 movements written by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns in February 1886, while he was vacationing in a small Austrian village. Every movement is performed with instruments and in a style which suggests the type of animal in the Carnival. Some of these movements are Hens and Roosters, Wild Donkeys and Quick Animals, Tortoises, and The Elephant.



The program is will be narrated in English by Maria Arnaout, a violinist in the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. At the end of the performance, children will have the opportunity to participate with her in a question-and answer exchange and interact with some of the orchestra’s instruments.



The two guest pianists who are invited to perform in this program are Hungarian Nora Emödy and Egyptian Ahmed Abou-Zhara, well known as the Horus Piano Duo. Since 2000, the duo has toured internationally in Europe, Egypt, the USA, China, and Mexico and performed with renowned orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of England, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and Cairo Symphony Orchestra.

The conductor for this performance will be Nader Abbassi, who is now well known among classical music lovers in Doha. He has conducted several QPO concerts catered to children and their families.

Tickets can be obtained at Virgin Megastore in Landmark and Villaggio. They are priced at 25QR for children and 75 QR for adults. Seating will be open. The concert will last one hour without intermission.

The next Family Concert will be Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck, an opera for children with professional soloists and featuring children from Doha, on February 24th at 5pm at Aspire Zone, Ladies Club.

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