Cairo Symphony plays Mozart and Beethoven at the Opera on 31 October

The Cairo Symphony Orchestra brings an all-classical-era evening to the Cairo Opera House on Saturday 31 October, the night after the Arab Music Festival closes. The concert is part of its "Masters of the Classical Era" programme and takes place in the Main Hall, also called the Grand Theatre, at 8pm.

Ahmed Atef conducts. The evening opens with Mozart's overture to the opera Don Giovanni, K. 527. Pianist Hala Haitham then joins the orchestra as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467. After that comes Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21, so the night moves from Mozart to the young Beethoven, both in the key of C major for the two big works.

The orchestra's poster for the night marks its 68th season, and the concert sits in a busy week at the Opera: Omar Khairat plays the same hall on 28 October, Mohamed Shaheen on 29 October and Medhat Saleh closes the Arab Music Festival there on 30 October. On Sunday 1 November the Small Theatre has an evening of jazz and tango by the Egyptian Piano Group.

For anyone new to the orchestra, this is an approachable programme: an overture of a few minutes, one of Mozart's best-known piano concertos and a first symphony, with no long modern work in between.

Tickets are sold on Tazkarti, the Opera House's booking site; the Opera's own page links to it but does not list the prices, so check the categories there before you go. The concert starts at 8pm sharp in the Main Hall at the Opera grounds in Zamalek, and late arrivals usually wait for a break between pieces to be seated.