Tannoura Performances at the Ghouri Caravansaray

A reader has kindly informed me that yesterday the performance of the Al-Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group started at 9:00 and not 8:30 as customary. Apparently this new timing will apply to the whole month of Ramadan. 

MOVIE AT THE ITALIAN CULTURAL CENTRE

Tonight, August 23, 2009 at 9:00 PM, in the Theatre of the Italian Cultural Centre in Zamalek will be shown the movie
DON CAMILLO,  Director: Julien Duvivier. Starring: Fernandel, Gino Cervi, Franco Interlenghi, Saro Urzì, Leda Gloria, Vera Falqui, Charles Vissière. Comedy, running time: 100 minutes. Italy - France, 1952.
The story is set in Brescello, a small village in the open countryside of Reggio Emilia, where the parish priest and the communist mayor are always fighting to gain leadership of the community. They spend their time thwarting/frustrating each other, even though in the end they always manage to come to a fair (oppure reasonable) compromise/agreement. Don Camillo has a fiery temperament and because of this he is often reprimanded by the Crucifix set in the major altar of the church. Italian with English subtitles.Free Entry.

Comment on next week music agenda

This comment should have been the preface of the Agenda that you'll find if you scroll down to the next post, but somehow I could not manage to insert it and it was not showing. I do not know if it is me or the technology, but sometimes weird thing happen in the mysterious world of blogging (OK, I know, it's me. I'll try to improve)

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that the first week of Ramadan has always been a bit poor on offers on the concert side but that this year, probably because it falls in August, is particularly poor. Do not despair though, September will bring us the Ramadan Nights of the French Cultural Centre, Makan and Geneina Theatre among others. In fact, the Hayy Festival of El Genaina starts already next Thursday with the concert of the beloved Wust El Balad, continuing on Friday with the Syrian singer Lena Chamamyan. That might be enough to rescue the week after all.

Happy Ramadan to you all.

WEEKLY AGENDA MUSIC AUG 22 - AUG 27

Saturday, August 22, 2009

- Al-Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group at the Ghouri Caravansaray 8:30 PM

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

- Ali El-Haggar in the Wisdom Hall of El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek

- Al-Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group at the Ghouri Caravansaray 8:30 PM

Thursday, August 27, 2009

- Wust El Balad at the Geneina Theatre in Al Azhar Park, 9:30 PM

- Nasser Shamma (Iraq) in the Wisdom Hall of El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek

Friday, August 28, 2009

- Lena Chamamyan (Syria) at the Geneina Theatre in Al Azhar Park, 9:30 PM

- Ali El Haggar in the gardens of the British Council in Agouza, 10:00 PM

- Hekayat Band at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 10:00 PM

Citadel Music Festival

Yesterday evening I could finally find the time to visit the Citadel Music Festival and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Musical experience aside, it was great to be in these wonderful surroundings at night, an opportunity that does not come by very often.
The monuments are beautifully lit for the occasion and the atmosphere is festive, warm and relaxed. If you drive there, you can bring the car up to the parking lot just in front of the entrance of the Citadel taking the first ramp on the Salah Salem Rd. (sign for the Military Museum). You enter from the main entrance and after a security check you are free to wander inside the huge area (no access to the Mohamed Ali and Nasir Mohamed mosques, but the beautiful mosque of Sulayman Pasha was open yesterday). There is no entrance fee and you are free to attend any of the concerts on the program or indeed, as I did, spend a little time in each of them. The cafeteria is open and in addition there are several stands selling water, soft drinks, chips and biscuits.
I do hope this becomes a regular yearly feature of Cairo's cultural life and I think we shall be really thankful to everybody who made this event possible.

The Citadel Music Festival runs until Thursday, August 20 and you find the program of the next evenings here.
Whether you think you'll like the music on the program or not, this is going to be a wonderful night out.

WEEKLY AGENDA - MUSIC AUG 15 - AUG 21, 2009

Saturday, August 15, 2009

- 19^th CITADEL MUSIC FESTIVAL:

– Panorama Theatre 1: Banat Al-Nil Troupe, 9:00 PM

– Panorama Theatre 2: Oriental Takht troupe featuring Mustafa Ahmed and Azza Nasr, 9:00 PM

– Sarayat Al-Gabal Theatre: Manal Mohieddin Harp recital, 9:00 PM

– Al-Mahka Theatre: Medhat Saleh (Contemporary Egyptian songs), 9:00 PM

- Sobhi Bidair and Friends in the Open Air Theatre of the Cairo Opera House, 9:00 PM

- Redeemers (Metal Rock) at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 8:00 PM

- The Sunflower Worshippers (Songs and music from the Palestinina Heritage) at El-Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 8:30 PM

- Al-Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group at the Ghouri Caravansaray 8:30 PM

- 2Al 3Ahwa (Modern Egyptian Songs) Debut Performance at the Cairo Jazz Club, 9:30 PM

- Hekaya band (Egyptian songs) at the Genaina Theatre in Al- Azhar park, 9:00 PM

Sunday, August 16, 2009

19^th CITADEL MUSIC FESTIVAL:

– Sarayat Al-Gabal Theatre: Cairo Festival Orchestra conducted by Nayer Nagui presents “Shehrazade” by Rimsky Korsakoff, 9:00 PM

– Panorama Theatre 1: Sattouna (Sudanese folk and traditional songs), 9:00 PM

– Panorama Theatre 2: Oriental Takht troupe, 9:00 PM

– Al-Mahka Theatre: Nadia Mustafa and her band, 9:00 PM

- Yasmine Samy (Violin) and Mina Karam (Flute) Recital with music from Debussy, Sarasate and Kreisler at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 8:30 PM

- March (Rock) in the Open Air theatre of Cairo Opera House, 9:00 PM

- Rashad Fahim trio (Jazz standards) at the Cairo Jazz Club, 9:30 PM

- Bisheer (Nubian Music) at After8, 10:00 PM

- El-Nil Troupe for folk instruments (Folk music and songs) at Beit Al-Suheimi 8:30 PM

- The Nubian Rhythm band conducted by Intesar Abdel-Fattah at the Ghouri Palace, 9:00 PM

Monday, August 17, 2009

19^th CITADEL MUSIC FESTIVAL:

– Panorama Theatre 2: Oriental Takht Choir, 9:00 PM

– Sarayat Al-Gabal Theatre: Nesma Abdel-Aziz (Percussions), 9:00 PM

– Al-Mahka Theatre: Khaled Selim (Contemporary Egyptian songs), 9:00 PM

- Ressala (Contemporary Egyptian songs) in the Open Air Theatre of the Cairo Opera House, 9:00 PM

- Clacket (Contemporary Egyptian Songs) at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 8:30 PM

- Wust El Balad at After8, 10:00 PM

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

19^th CITADEL MUSIC FESTIVAL:

– Panorama Theatre 1: Said El-Artist band, 9:00 PM

– Panorama Theatre 2: Fatema Eid and her band, 9:00 PM

– Sarayat Al-Gabal Theatre: Al-Nour Wa Al-Amal Orchestra, 9:00 PM

– Al-Mahka Theatre: Mohamed El-Helw, 9:00 PM

- Nass Makan (Nubian music, Zikr and Sufi songs, Sudanese music and songs) at the Makan Centre 9:00 PM

- Andromida Band (Rock) at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 9:00 PM

- The Hot Potato Project (Jazz fusion) at the Cairo Jazz Club, 10:30 PM

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

19^th CITADEL MUSIC FESTIVAL:

– Panorama Theatre 2: Manal and her band, 9:00 PM

– Sarayat Al-Gabal Theatre: Boghdady Jazz Band, 9:00 PM

– Al-Mahka Theatre: Oriental Takht, 9:00 PM

- Fairouz Karaweya (Egyptian Songs) at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 8:30 PM

- Mazaher Ensemble (Music of the Delta) at the Makan Centre 9:00 PM

- Al-Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group at the Ghouri Caravansaray 8:30 PM

Thursday, August 20, 2009

19^th CITADEL MUSIC FESTIVAL:

– Panorama Theatre 1: Sharara Sextet, 9:00 PM

– Panorama Theatre 2: Rahma and her band, 9:00 PM

– Sarayat Al-Gabal Theatre: Ahmed Rabie and his band (Jazz fusion), 9:00 PM

– Al-Mahka Theatre: Ihab Tawfiq (Contemporary Egyptian Songs), 9:00 PM

- Omar Khairat in the Open Air Theatre of Cairo Opera House, 9:00 PM

- Lisa Shaker (Sudanese music) at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 9:00 PM

- Sobha & Limouzine Bands (Contemporary Egyptian music) at El Sawi Cultural Centre in Zamalek, 8:30 PM

Friday, August 21, 2009

No musical event scheduled

CLEG is back!

Welcome back to CLEG to you all!

Despite the heat, the humidity, the traffic and the other "usual suspects" I love to complain about, I was really glad to "touch base" again yesterday; I love Cairo and, especially after a prolonged absence, I am willing to forgive her many of her faults.

I already started to scan the "local scene"and am pretty confident I will be able to come out with a weekly Agenda for the coming week. One event though I want to highlight already, the Citadel Music Festival. It was inaugurated Monday evening and will run until August 20 with performances taking place daily in four different stage locations. It sounds great and I am looking forward to visiting it in the coming days so that I can write more about it (one question that is puzzling me: where do they allow to park the car?).

The program for tonight, Wednesday, August 12 is as follows:

- Panorama 1 Theatre, 8:00 PM
Ahmad Al-Khalawi Troupe (Religious Chants)
- Panorama 2 Theatre, 8:00 PM
Oriental Takht
- Sarayat al-Gabal Theatre, 8:00 PM
Fathy Salama
- Al-Mahka Theatre, 9:00 PM
Ali Al-Haggar