It’s been another great Abu Dhabi week. Wasn’t Wakestock fabulous? Terrific fun, as good to watch as it was for the lucky few who got on to the water – and that towline gismo was an inspirational idea
Written by: Dennis Jarrett
Wakestock was a good use of the Corniche, too; it’s becoming a real centre for activities, especially free activities.
But you could also get back for a quick shower and a clean shirt, then nip down to Al Ain to catch the young British conductor Daniel Harding taking the Mahler Chamber Orchestra through a programme of New World favourites – Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Bernstein’s interesting (and relatively underperformed) Overture from Candide, and of course the great Dvo?ák symphony of the title. Harding was a good choice; the Classics programme is getting good at identifying these stars-in-the-making.
You want more high culture? The Book Fair may have just finished – it’s going from strength to strength, and the announcement of Abdo Khal as the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is a great choice: “Spewing Sparks As Big As Castles” beat 112 Arabic novels from 17 countries, topped the six shortlisted titles, and won Khal a helpful $60,000. It’s a worthy winner, a satire on power, glamour and wealth that manages to be both great story-telling and very pertinent.
The Abu Dhabi Sculpture Symposium is still in full flow at the Armed Forces Officers Club, with live sculpting and some really interesting pieces; in general the Arab world isn’t big on 3D art, especially not the non-representational, so this exercise deserves real attention and no little applause.
With top-class drag racing and the Abu Dhabi Festival to come, the mix continues. Somehow that unlikely combination of world-leading entertainment is coming to epitomise Abu Dhabi – a class act whatever it chooses to do.
Incidentally, we were sad to hear that ADACH had to cancel the Mozart concert by Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa on 2nd March. The conducting maestro has to undergo cancer surgery, and our best wishes go to him.
