Review: Not a Classic Dutch Treat Event, But an Extraordinary Classical One

It wasn’t your classic Dutch Treat event last night (December 2nd) as club members gathered for dinner.  Cabaret/Broadway performers and speakers who are usually featured during the entertainment portion of these stimulating gatherings weren’t on the menu, however, an inspiring evening of classical music and conversation was. 

Nimet Habacy, for 42 years the first all-night host of the WQXR radio station's classical music program, presented us with “Move Over Scheherazade’s!” She shared entertaining and cherished memories of her long career. She showed us how, along with Mozart, Beethoven, Rimsky-Korsakov and so many others, Nimet Habachy kept insomniacs and night-time workers company for 42 years––which is a great deal longer than Scheherazade's measly 1001 nights! One of our favorite stories was of police officers coming to the station in the NY Times building, handcuffs at the ready, saying that their sergeant wanted to hear more Wagner - she immediately complied and was sure to play more Wagner from then on.

Nimet is a born raconteuse, and we found ourselves laughing out loud as she shared many stories, accompanied by snippets of movies, concerts and music, of what went on in the wee hours in the City That Never Sleeps.   

Habachy grew up in Cairo, Egypt speaking Arabic, English and French and at age 10, the abdication of King Farouk, spurred a relocation of her family to the United States. WQXR, the classical music radio station of the New York Times, hired Nimet as their first all-night radio host.

The performance portion of the evening thrilled the Dutch Treaters. Also Cairo-born was our entertainer Kamel Boutros,  truly a modern New York City Renaissance Man. Kamel started us off with a portion of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" and treated us to an intriguing narration of his thought process when first hearing the piece as a youngster, and its impact on him. It's rare to hear such a superb classical concert pianist ALSO be an internationally acclaimed opera baritone! He then improvised a virtuosic voice and piano piece, which left us all amazed in the best sense of the word. We were indeed fortunate to have been serenaded by a man who has performed baritone roles in multiple seasons at NYC's Metropolitan Opera under the baton of James Levine. He has shared stages  with his close friend, piano virtuoso Martha Argerich, and the late Luciano Pavarotti.

A superb classical pianist, he made the club’s digital Yamaha sound like a Steinway (or as Sidney Myer would say, (“a reasonable facimie”). Kamel currently is the Music Director of Calvary – St. George’s Church parish in Gramercy Park,  where he programs, conducts, writes and performs an extraordinarily broad range of sacred music from multiple nations and genres composed over the last five centuries. 

It was not a classic Dutch Treat event but an extraordinary Classical one.

Learn more about the Dutch Treat Club at www.dutchtreatny.org 
Kamel Boutros, Nimet Habachy, KT Sullivan, Midge Woolsey

Nimet Habachy

Kamel Boutros

Kamel Boutros

Kamel Boutros

Nimet Habachy

KT Sullivan, Club President

Dutch Treat Club

Raissa Katona Bennett, Entertainment Chair

Mararet Darlow, Mark Watson, Opera Singers & KT Sullivan

Midge Woolsey