Review: THE DANCE OF THE SUN, THE WIND AND THE DUST PART.2: AROUSED FIRE OF SALUTE ON A FROSTY NIGHT at Qatar Exhibition And Convention Center

"The care of a genius is enough of a life work for any woman." Said by no other than Alice Elgar whom has given up on every luxury she had earlier in her life, to support Edward Elgar. No truer words have been spoken; high seas of creativity take more than a man could bare for and one cannot walk the path solely depending on himself. Eventually, Elgar didn't so. He had Alice by him side as a partner, wife, caretaker, manager and a friend. Personally I think, initiating the story of a genius without mentioning the biggest influence of his life would be a lack of regards. Here the highest respects to the woman who flickered the match on Edward's frosty nights; Caroline Alice Elgar.

Edward Elgar was a self-thought English lad who missed the chance of a traditional education on music by an inch. Come to think of it; otherwise we could have been destitute of individual style of Elgar. He may have not been educated on a traditional level although he took the full advantage to witness to unfamiliar music. Notwithstanding, Elgar had little interest in the early English composers such as William Byrd; calling him and his contemporaries' works as "museum pieces". He was mainly had his piers constructed on the ground of Handel, Dvo?ák and, to some degree, Brahms including nineteenth-century French composers such as Berlioz, Massenet, Saint-Saëns and, particularly, Delibes, whom music Elgar played and conducted at Worcester and greatly admired.

Elgar was the fourth child out of nine as a son of a musician father and an enthusiastic mother who had influence on Elgar's literal perspective. He had his musical attributes grown within the long-lasting years of practice flourished with persistent dedication. For many years he had the creativity, completed works and passion although no penny to spend. During the times he had the most humane hesitations which was soothed by his close friend music publisher August Jaeger; "A day's attack of the blues ... will not drive away your desire, your necessity, which is to exercise those creative faculties which a kind providence has given you. Your time of universal recognition will come."

It took his forty-two years to his craftsmanship and originality be recognized gradually by the population via presentation of "Elgar's Enigma Variations". Originally the craft was named as "Variations on an Original Theme". Word of enigma was never identified by Elgar himself yet appeared over the first six bars of them music which led the familiar version of the title. Elgar's chromatistic - contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism - approach on music was a mixture of Europe's sounds with the undeniable contribution of tradition typified works of well-known Richard Strauss.

The contrast between the highly appreciated, astonishingly zealous and young conductor Hermes Helfricht - who is turned out to be born on 1992 - and lately recognized, experimental Edward Elgar shows the world that the age has nothing to do when it comes to mind of a genius. The virtue of music being timeless gives the shiver down on the audience's their spine with the combined majestic work of masters, including the undeniably talented Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra members.

Helfricht, who has performed with various international orchestras with a timeless repertoire that ranges from Baroque to date, was the guide to the depths of composers' souls - Elgar, Ranjbaran and Mendelssohn -; with the similarity of the Greek God "Hermes". Not-so-surprisingly, Helfricht was named as 1st Kapellmeister at the Theater St. Gallen on 2016, additionally the fact he had his first debut as conductor at 2013 with all Italian program containing masters' pieces such as Rossini, Verdi and Puccini at the Bruckner Orchester Linz. The professionalism of Helfircht lies within his elaborated study of music fused with the ingenuous thrill of an artist. His warm-blooded presence had effect on both the audience and the orchestra.

The once of a lifetime experience of contributing as a part of audience during the olympian night of gusto was indefinable. Singular admirations of music were merged and served as a triumphed feast and every breath taken was filled with delight.

Hermes Helfricht was brave and kind enough to spare few words just before the staging;

OAK: How are you feeling tonight?

HH: I feel great. It is a pleasure to be here, surrounded by the such esteemed musicians from all over the world and we have an extremely great program for tonight which I am looking forward to it.

OAK: We are as well. Let me ask you if this is your first time in Doha?

HH: Precisely, this is my first time in Doha, in fact it is my first time in any Arabic country. So tonight is very special for me.

OAK: How is your experience in Doha so far and how did you prepare for tonight?

HH: I did my study as I do with every work which started months ago. I especially worked on the flute concerto by Mr. Ranjbaran which was composed for the Philadelphia Orchestra. We are the third orchestra and Mr. Haskin is the third soloist whom will be playing live for the audience. So this is a huge responsibility and such a challenge. I got to visit the city during my free-time and I had a chance to visit Islamic Art Museum which is fascinating. The city and how it changes from daylight to night; everything is enlightened with beautiful variety of colors.

OAK: Mr. Ranjbaran's music you will be conducting tonight, what does it mean to you?

HH: Mr. Ranjbaran didn't has the mind of flute of today but the traditional instrument called "Ney" which sound as sometimes softer but you can produce powerful sounds with. Which I believe Mr. Ranjbaran's piece needs to be combined with lyrical movements for both the flute and the orchestra. The piece has quite a few cadenzas which are very lyrical and soft but very virtuous and so hard to accomplish. Alongside the orchestra sometimes, especially in the first and third movements, has a lot of marcato just to accompany the flute and the second movement is delightful. Especially there is a movement just one and a half moments before the end of the second movement; which sounds like a dream from Arabia. When I first saw the score and tried to hear it; it felt like spending the night in desert. It has special colors and special characters of the music and I believe it is quite exciting.

OAK: Any thoughts you'd like to share about other pieces?

HH: Mendelsshon describes his own journey on a ship which I presume ships were shakier than they are today. Therefore, he didn't fell in one piece and he put his feelings in his composition. Alongside, Mr. Elgar actually gained his fame with "Enigma Variations". We have the theme and through out the piece it is fantastically varied with full of changes of mood and character. Each person in the orchestra gets to play and experience the piece themselves which is always a pleasure and not so often.

OAK: Thank you very much for your precious time, break a leg.

HH: Thank you, hopefully you will enjoy the evening as much as we do.

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