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The musical season at Beit Tabaris concluded on a bright note, despite the incessant crises afflicting Lebanon. This artist residency has kept the flame of Western art music alive throughout the year, asserting its central musical role in a Beirut engulfed in turmoil.
The curtain has finally fallen on a particularly rich musical season. Beit Tabaris has known no respite — war, political deadlock, deteriorating security, economic crisis: no excuse is valid for closing the doors of this artist residency dedicated to Western art music.
Nestled in the heart of Beirut, Beit Tabaris has now become a benchmark in this field, while once-prominent institutions increasingly show their decline. “The worse it gets, the more we need to act,” tirelessly repeats Zeina Saleh Kayali, co-founder of this musical project. Tireless, this musicographer has infused such vitality into this hive throughout the year that it seemed as if her own life depended on it. In a Lebanon in disarray, torn apart by others’ wars on its soil, and plagued by corruption and poor public management, she has boldly carried the flame of hope, thus paving a bright path for a musical youth eager to reach new heights.
Through the Musical Eras
On Sunday, August 11, after a somewhat tumultuous afternoon, the final word was entrusted to music. Pianist Sevag Derghougassian and soprano Marianne Helou offered a selection of works ranging from the Baroque era of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) to the Romantic era of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Jules Massenet (1842-1912), and Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), with a detour through the Classical era of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). While the repertoire was predominantly rooted in classical eras, the centerpiece of the evening — a creation — was rather contemporary, bearing the signature of the pianist himself. Bridging tonal and atonal language, Sevag Derghougassian’s work, titled Song of Myself, highlights certain polarities while employing unconventional harmonic structures.
Like other intellectual music of the 21st century, this music for piano and voice, set to a text by Walt Whitman (1819-1892), features often complex dissonances paired with a vocal line that is sometimes recited, where the soprano demonstrates an appreciable recitativo, and sometimes sung. Immersing oneself fully in the listening experience is crucial to attempting to uncover the mysteries of this provocative and interesting work, which explores themes of war and peace. This turmoil ultimately resolves into a noticeably more serene ambiance, with dissonant chords giving way to more classical harmonies. The final section places the voice more prominently: Marianne Helou unfolds a clearer vocal palette, resolutely lyrical at times. The Armenian language certainly plays a role.
A Note of Satisfaction
At the end of this concert, satisfaction was clearly reflected in the eyes of the audience, and especially in those of Zeina Saleh Kayali. And with good reason! For its summer season, running from June 25 to August 11, Beit Tabaris organized five masterclasses for young Lebanese talents, including composition with Naji Hakim, piano with Christine Marchais and Patrick Fayad, saxophone with Marc Sieffert, and orchestral conducting with Michael Cousteau. “Aside from the end-of-masterclass concerts, we organized two chamber music concerts with the young members of the AUB Classical Club on one hand and Sevag Derghougassian and Marianne Helou on the other,” notes the Lebanese-French musicographer, before continuing: “We achieved our goals as a total of thirty-two young musicians benefited entirely free of charge from high-level musical education in these various disciplines.”
Despite the dire situation in Lebanon, Zeina Saleh Kayali refuses to throw in the towel anytime soon. “There are still people who believe that we can help Lebanon through its musical youth and culture,” she insists, “Our partners and sponsors, of course, but also all the musicians we contact and who, despite the precarious situation, enthusiastically agree to support this country, which means so much to us as it does to them.”
Thankfully, there are still people of goodwill who are convinced of this country’s potential and human capabilities. People who dare to defend the noble face of this homeland against growing obscurantism, which strives to drag Lebanon into a spiral of perpetual violence and bloodshed. In the new Lebanon currently taking shape, wouldn’t it be wise to entrust the musical field, abandoned by those who were supposed to protect it, to people like Zeina Saleh Kayali? This will hopefully be a call to action.
