Stars dazzle crowds at Carthage Festival grand finale

2009-08-19

Venezuelan flutist Pedro Eustache and Greek composer Yanni were among the top-tier artists to close Tunisia's 45th Carthage Festival, which showcased local and international talent.

Mona Yahya for Magharebia in Tunis — 19/08/09

[Mona Yahya] Riad Fehri shows off his white suit and musical genius at the close of Tunisia's celebrated Carthage Festival, which ran July 9th-August 17th.

Tunisia's international music showcase, the Carthage Festival, wrapped up Monday (August 17th) several dazzling weeks of performances by world-renowned artists such as Cheb Khaled, Venezuelan flute prodigy Pedro Eustache and soundscape pioneer Yanni.

Riad Fehri, a Tunisian star who heads the Sidi Bou Said Music Institute, crowned the closing acts of the festival, now in its 45th year, with his piece "Red Carpet".

"The title is inspired by the Tunisian flag," said Fehri, who earned Arab musical heritage awards for his body of work, which includes favourites like "Al Manarah", "Al Burj" and "Riyah 330".

"The carpet extends from Tunisia to receive the world," added the artist, who counts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra among his collaborators. "Tunisia welcomes foreigners and has honoured a number of artists."

The night got rolling, appropriately enough, with Amin Triter's "The New Beginning". Besides the works by Fehri and Triter, a Tunisian living in the United States, the audience heard 13 compositions before the event was over. In all, 80 performers of 10 different nationalities took part in the grand finale, lending the music a truly international flavour.

"The best thing about the [Carthage Festival] is the cultural diversity and engagement of young people, which has been very clear to everyone during this year's performances," said audience member Ibrahim.

"In my opinion, [this year's festival] fulfilled its promises, at the top of which is granting Tunisian artists the status they deserve," said festival head Boubaker Ben Faraj. "This show is the best proof of that. It shows that the festival is receptive to other cultures and civilizations."

The festival, the oldest in the Arab region, opened on July 9th with an operetta celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abou El Kacem Chebbi, the renowned Tunisian poet. The schedule also encompassed Tunisian luminaries like singer Lotfi Bouchnak, who enchanted the audience with favourites like "Nassaya". The Carthage Festival is part of an ambitious round of 300 cultural events Tunisia scheduled this summer in order to highlight the arts.

While the works of Fehri and Triter received prominent play this year, flutist Pedro Eustache was undisputedly the star of the concluding evening, together with platinum-selling Greek star Yanni.

In the course of the evening, Eustache wowed the audience by performing on virtually every wind instrument known to humankind, winning thunderous applause.

"The show was exceptional," one audience member told Magharebia. "Pedro gave it a special flavour."

Performers brought audience members together when a group of Tunisian and Ethiopian children took the stage for a song called "Children of the World". Other selections included "A Mysterious Journey", "Do Si" and "Anstrouss", all of them blends of classical and modern Arab and Western music. Artists from Italy, the Netherlands, the US and Iraq took part.

And while the Carthage Festival may be nearly half a century old, it still has some surprises up its sleeve. This time, it was revered Tunisian musician Saleh Mehdi, who suddenly appeared on stage and performed, for the first time, a piece he composed over 45 years ago.

Mehdi offered three Maghrebi takes on the muwashah, a rhythmically complex musical form originating in medieval Spain, all of them celebrating the concepts of love held by Sufi mystics. "In love, I am a miracle worker," ran the lyrics of one muwashah. The artist described the music as bringing together all of the Maghreb's states — reflecting the Carthage Festival itself.