The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra during an earlier performance at the Katara Opera House.

By Anand Holla

With 219 million streams and sales of 3.5 million copies, the soundtrack of Frozen was the most widely consumed album of last year. Its popularity reached such dizzying levels that even the film’s director Jennifer Lee apologised to parents whose children had become obsessed with its soundtrack.
Last December, Lee was quoted in The Hollywood Reporter as saying, “A year ago, I’d meet people who, when they found out who I was, they’d say, ‘Oh, we love the songs! We sing them all the time. Now they are like, ‘Yep, we’re still listening to those songs.’ I’ve gone from, ‘Thank you,’ to, ‘Sorry!’”
As the year comes to a close, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) has a few unmissable musical treats to offer, the highlight of which will be on December 4 and 5. At 6pm, on both days, in a show titled “Broadway Melodies”, QPO will perform four tracks from Frozen: For the First Time in Forever, In Summer, Love is an Open Door, and of course, Let it Go, at QNCC Auditorium 3. The tickets are priced at QR100 and 150.
The performance will be conducted by Andreas Sebastian Weiser, and choruses and vocals will be performed by Doha talent curated by Felicitas Fuchs. Here’s a quick look at the setlist – Leonard Bernstein: From West Side Story: Symphonic Dances, America, Maria, Tonight; Andrew Lloyd Webber: From The Phantom of the Opera: Overture, All I Ask of You, Music of the Night; Marvin Hamlisch: From A Chorus Line: Nothing, What I Did for Love, One.
From Boublil and Schönberg’s Les Miserables: Castle on a Cloud (music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer), Stars (music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer), and Do You Hear the People Sing (music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer).
Then there’s The Moldau. On November 28 at 7:30pm at QNCC Auditorium 3, conductor Andreas Sebastian Weiser and soprano Felicitas Fuchs will perform pieces such as, Ludwig van Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b; Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs, Op. Posthumous, TrV 296, AV 150; Bedřich Smetana: From Má vlast: Vyšehrad (The High Castle), Vltava (The Moldau), and Šárka.
Bringing classical music aficionados together is, of course, chamber music at Museum of Islamic Art, which will be held on December 3. Sample the programme: Johann Strauss, Jr.: Tales from the Vienna Woods, Op. 325; Johann Strauss, Jr.: Fledermaus Quadrille on a motive from the operetta, Op. 363; Johann Strauss, Jr.: Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning), polka schnell, Op. 324; and Johann Strauss, Jr.: A Set of Polkas.
The artistes performing the chamber music are Alie Bekirova, violin; Lilya Bekirova, violin; Victor Sumenkov, viola; Ruslan Umarov, cello; and Aleksandr Haskin, flute.
On December 12, there’s Bach, Vivaldi and Handel at 7:30pm at Katara Opera House. The tickets are priced at QR 75-200. Conductor Elias Grandy will be joined by soprano Felicitas Fuchs.
Some of the pieces that will be performed are: Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Te Deum, H.146: Prelude; Henry Purcell: From Come Ye Sons of Art, Z.323: Sound the trumpet for soprano, trumpet and orchestra; Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata BWV 84, Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke (I am content in my good fortune); and Johann Sebastian Bach: From Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major for Orchestra, BWV 1068: Air.
Earlier this month, QPO presented nine concerts in one day – November 13 – at the Qatar National Convention Centre, where patrons could get wilfully lost in Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik by the Louise Bourgeois sculpture, The Spider, in QNCC’s sprawling lobby, or indulge the film-lover in you with Music from the Movies concert.