Damascus-SANA
Between two voices, from east to west, an opera night was performed this evening by the Syrian-Swiss soprano Sumaya Hallaq and the Belgian soprano Laure Catherine Beers at the Drama Theater at Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts.
And the audience who loves classical music was on a date with a rich program in terms of high performance and selection of opera songs by major international composers of different musical eras.
Barber and Beers performed a piece Staba Mater by the Italian author Giovanni Battista Draghi. This piece dates back to the fourteenth century AD, and its meaning in Latin, the mother was standing in reference to the Virgin and her standing before the cross during the ordeal of Jesus.
The evening was presented the Latin Stella Splendens from the Medieval De Montserrat, a manuscript of devotional texts. The Scottish folk piece Trees Growing High, written in the 1770s, featured on the evening's programme.
Among the songs that were presented is the attractive and fun song of Desdischado with its fast pace, and came with the voice of the opera singers Hallaq and Beers, and the international composer Mozart presented the Latin chant of Avi Verum, as well as the song “Badak Ala Bali” by Mrs. Fairuz in this classical opera evening.
It is noteworthy that the soprano Somaya Hallaq studied singing in Geneva, where she was born, then headed to Venice and then to Brussels, where she completed her studies at the Royal College and in the Opera Studio of the Copenhagen Opera in Denmark. For her participation in concerts in Belgium and France, and in addition to her musical activity, she established a special project for Syrian children who were victims of war and was named a Messenger of Peace from the Belgian Parliament.
As for the soprano Laure Catherine Beyers, she holds a BA in music and is currently pursuing her academic achievement with a prestigious MA in the solo program at the École Normale Supérieure de la Musica de Lausanne and has many operatic participations in international cities.
Rasha Mahfoud
