An evening of versatile sounds and complex emotions



There aren't many violinists whose playing I think I could identify in a blindfold test but Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of them. It isn't that she has a particularly distinctive tone or repertoire of favoured techniques. It's more that, if you find yourself puzzled that this particular piece should be evoking this particular mood - and so successfully, too - then Mutter probably isn't far away. She embroiders, using actorly conceits to shed new light, or at least cast interesting new shadows on her part - like Simon Russell Beale realising that Hamlet should be played as a hangdog Philip Marlowe. And so on Saturday evening at the Emirates Palace, Mozart's Piano Trio in B Flat was transfigured from the glib and gambolling thing of musical tradition to a psychological work of seething intensity.

Mutter was accompanied by the American pianist Lambert Orkis and Daniel Müller-Schott, a young cellist and graduate from her own musical foundation. The trio began playing without a word (indeed, with barely a pause for the audience to acknowledge that they had appeared onstage), and they made a real ensemble; for all that the title of the concert was The Magic of the Violin, Mutter chose repertoire that made her an equal partner, and Orkis in particular impressed with tasteful virtuoso playing.

The opening allegro movement is one of Mozart's lost-at-the-masked-ball affairs, full of arpeggios that tumble like dominoes and playful twists into minor key. Mutter's wide, fast vibrato and sudden drops in volume, her chords falling faintheartedly away, sounded a note of visceral unease amid the frivolity. It was the most remarkable piece of musical reframing of the night but it readied the audience for a restless show. The lyrical larghetto movement was filled with swooping glissandos, spiking the violin and cello harmonies with momentary discords. The allegretto sped between jubilance and terror. Mozart rarely sounds disturbing, but he did here.

The ground was prepared for a trio by Mutter's former husband, André Previn. It presented little opportunity to tweak tradition since it premiered in April last year, but it made an excellent showcase for the turbulent moods of Mutter's violin. Scraps of 20th-century popular music - ragtime piano, jazz, soupy Mantovani strings - tumbled over one another in a whirlwind of freak tonalities. Mutter wrung melodies from her violin that sounded like a rusty gate, tones like the ringing of a crystal glass and, with the help of Muller-Schott, great pillowy chords that conjured an entire string section. It's a spiky piece by the standards of Abu Dhabi Classics, but this was a rich and inviting reading.

After that, the relatively straight take on Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No 1 in D Minor, a genteel piece of drawing-room romanticism from the early 19th century's squarest composer, came as a surprise. There's a mechanical quality about Mendelssohn's alternating storms and sun rays, which isn't to disparage them: they're beautiful mechanisms. Orkis held up his end with notably fine balance and gracefulness. Mutter's playing became assertive, lending a satisfying tartness to the piece's glutinous melodies. It wasn't a revelation: Mendelssohn isn't for everyone and not everyone will have been won over by this performance. But it will have won him a good few converts. And it held up another facet of Mutter's playing: there are lots of them to admire.

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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face

The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.

The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran. 

Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf. 

"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said. 

Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer. 

The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy. 

 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

Fixtures (6pm UAE unless stated)

Saturday Bournemouth v Leicester City, Chelsea v Manchester City (8.30pm), Huddersfield v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm), Manchester United v Crystal Palace, Stoke City v Southampton, West Bromwich Albion v Watford, West Ham United v Swansea City

Sunday Arsenal v Brighton (3pm), Everton v Burnley (5.15pm), Newcastle United v Liverpool (6.30pm)

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

Opening Rugby Championship fixtures:Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

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Results
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage

Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid 

Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani

Rating: 4/5

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MO
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Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

On the menu

First course

▶ Emirati sea bass tartare Yuzu and labneh mayo, avocado, green herbs, fermented tomato water  

▶ The Tale of the Oyster Oyster tartare, Bahraini gum berry pickle

Second course

▶ Local mackerel Sourdough crouton, baharat oil, red radish, zaatar mayo

▶ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Quail, smoked freekeh, cinnamon cocoa

Third course

▶ Bahraini bouillabaisse Venus clams, local prawns, fishfarm seabream, farro

▶ Lamb 2 ways Braised lamb, crispy lamb chop, bulgur, physalis

Dessert

▶ Lumi Black lemon ice cream, pistachio, pomegranate

▶ Black chocolate bar Dark chocolate, dates, caramel, camel milk ice cream
 

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Squid Game season two

Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk 

Stars:  Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun

Rating: 4.5/5

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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BELGIUM%20SQUAD
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INFO

Everton 0

Arsenal 0

Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)

RESULTS

5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)

5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qais Aboud

6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Almahroosa, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Sumoud, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Adventurous, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe

The%20specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding