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Classical concert held in Saudi Arabia

— Photo: AP

a new tune: A mixed gender audience at a performance of the German-based Artis Piano Quartet in Riyadh on Friday.

RIYADH: It was probably as groundbreaking and revolutionary as Mozart was ever going to get. A German-based quartet staged Saudi Arabia’s first-ever performance of European classical music in a public venue before a mixed gender audience.

The concert, held on Friday night, broke many taboos in a country where public music is banned and men and women are segregated even in the lines at fast food outlets. The performance could be yet another indication that this country is looking to open up. A few weeks ago, King Abdullah made an unprecedented call for an interfaith dialogue — the first such proposal from a nation that forbids non-Muslim religious services and symbols.

“The concert is a sign that things are changing rapidly here,” said German Ambassador Jurgen Krieghoff, whose embassy sponsored the concert — part of a series of programmes celebrating the first German Cultural Weeks in Saudi Arabia. “Evidently, the government has decided that a minimum of openness in our new world economy and in our information-based world is necessary for us and also for good understanding among cultures,” he said.

Embassies and consulates bring musical groups, but they perform in embassy grounds — and sometimes in expatriate residential compounds — and the shows are not open to the public. In the past couple of months, however, there has been a quiet, yet marked increase in cultural activities in Saudi Arabia. Lectures and a couple of segregated folk music performances were held on the sidelines of Riyadh’s book fair.

Jeddah’s annual Economic Forum opened with a surprise this year — a performance of Arab and Western music. “For half an hour, we did not quite know whether we had stumbled into an unknown nightclub or whether it was some amazing mistake that would suddenly stop,” wrote Michel Cousins in the English-language daily Arab News, describing the show.

German diplomat Sebastian Bischoff said the mission had received permission for the event from the Ministry of Information and Culture, which runs the King Fahd Cultural Centre, where the visiting Artis Piano Quartet played works by Mozart, Brahms and Juon.

The excitement in the 500-seat hall was palpable as the largely expatriate audience walked in. “It is unusual for us and for the public.” Japanese pianist Hiroko Atsumi said there was some debate before the concert on whether she should perform in an abaya, the black cloak women must wear in public. At the end, she settled on a long green top and black trousers.

Among the first to arrive was Faiza al-Khayyal and her 15-year-old daughter Ms. Al-Khayyal said she had inquired about seating arrangements and was told the audience would be mixed. Did she mind bringing her daughter to a mixed gathering? “It’s OK with me,” she said. — AP

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