04 July 2009

Review

Beiteddine: "A Tribute to Oum Kalthoum" might sound a terrible idea. The Egyptian diva, known variously as "Kawkab al-Sharq" ("The Star of the Orient") or "Al-Sitt" ("The Lady"), has such a legendary presence that any pretender to her throne seems bound for disaster. Like an actress playing Marilyn Monroe or a painter copying the canvases of Vincent van Gogh, there might seem something ridiculous about another singer taking on the oeuvre of Kalthoum.

Within half an hour, however, Amal Maher had won over any doubters. The Egyptian vocalist, playing the part of Kalthoum for the Beiteddine Festival's opening night spectacular, let out a long, breath-defying wail as part of the opening number, "Inta Amri" ("You Are My Life"), that left her audience in admiration.

Dressed in a diaphanous white gown, Maher looked impossibly leggy, as if she were wearing stilts. Perhaps she was: On the couple of occasions when the singer left her position by the microphone to say a word to the conductor, movement seemed to be achieved only with difficulty.

Maher's stage presence wasn't necessarily dynamic, but her voice was distraction enough. Considering the vocalist's slim frame, the power of her lungs was incredible. Somehow delicate yet forceful, Maher's dulcet tones frequently raised hairs on the back of the neck.

Kalthoum's songs are famous for their repetitive quality: She would intone a phrase over and over again, each time subtly altering the emotional emphasis, bringing her audiences to a trance-like state. It is a testament to Maher's talent that she seemed able to evoke a similar feeling of collective euphoria. In the main courtyard of Beiteddine's Palace, many audience members swayed and shimmied with their eyes closed, almost rising up out of their chairs with the desire to move to the music.

But Maher did not create this magic all by herself. The singer was backed up by a full 24-piece orchestra, led by Palestinian-Egyptian conductor Selim Sahab. Currently artistic director of the Cairo Opera, Sahab is a familiar figure in this city: He founded the Beirut Arab Music Ensemble here in 1980.

Flamboyantly dressed in a white tuxedo, the conductor compensated for any lack of movement in Maher's performance. Whipping the instrumentalists through a series of splendid orchestrations, Sahab was bursting with energy.

The large orchestra lent a wonderful richness to the proceedings. "Kalimat" featured a number of tremulous, breathy solos on the ney, a variant on the flute that's blown from the top like a clarinet. At the end of these solos, as the audience crashed back into the fray, the luscious depth of the full-blown sound was particularly noticeable.

Kalthoum's songs demand a greater degree of attention than the three-minute ditties that litter today's pop music landscape. A typical Kalthoum concert would involve the performance of around three songs over a period of three to six hours. "A Tribute to Oum Kalthoum" wasn't on quite such an epic scale. Maher performed four songs over a little more than two hours.

Interspersed throughout the evening were excerpts from French, English and Arabic documentaries on Al-Sitt's life. The audience was granted glimpses of her extraordinary story, from being dressed up as a boy by her father at the beginning of her singing career to negotiating the regimes of King Farouk and then Gamal Abdel Nasser, eventually becoming a symbol of Revolutionary Egypt.

Lining a gallery behind the stage was a selection of photographs of the diva from every stage of her career, mounted on wonderfully kitsch shocking-pink. In many of the black-and-white images, Kalthoum had been hand-colored in hyper-real hues, as though in apotheosis of the pop-culture icon.

The remaining acts of Beiteddine Festival have something to live up to after such a splendid beginning. Hot on the heels of the opening is, however, another legend: Charles Aznevour. Voted as Entertainer of the Century by CNN and Time Online in 1998, Beirut audiences have the opportunity to see the Armenian-French tenor in action at Beiteddine on July 9.

The recent fracas surrounding Moroccan-French comedian Gad Elmaleh means that he's ducked out of his three-day appearance at the festival. Next on the agenda is Emir Kusturica with The No Smoking Orchestra on July 18.

The multi-talented Kusturica is also a filmmaker, twice receiving a Palme d'Or at Cannes and also a Silver Bear at Berlin. In his musical incarnation, the polymath is a purveyor of energetic gypsy-rock, sure to set legs jiggling and heads bopping in the Beiteddine auditorium.

July 22 sees an appearance from Madeleine Peyroux, the American jazz-influenced singer-songwriter. Publicity-eschewing Peyroux has not managed to achieve anonymity with her highly popular albums, such as 2004's "Careless Love" and "Half the Perfect World."

One of Lebanon's most successful sons makes a rare live appearance on July 25. Gabriel Yared, internationally celebrated as a soundtrack composer for such films as "The English Patient" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley," will be performing a selection of his scores alongside projected film clips. Yared's piano will be accompanied by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and soprano Gaelle Mechaly, so the evening promises to be an audio-visual spectacular.

Hanine y Son Cubano make a welcome return to the festival stage on July 31. Performing a curious yet infectious blend of traditional Arabic tarab with Cuban rhythms, the big-band group was formed by avant-garde producer Michel Elefteriades. Hanine's debut album spent a whole year at the top of Lebanon's best-seller chart, making their Beiteddine appearance a hotly-awaited event.

Another regular at the festival is Armenian-Arabic fusion artist Guy Manoukian. Fresh from the release of his new album, the singer and composer will appear at Beiteddine on August 9.

In celebration of Jerusalem's year as Arab Culture Capital, composer, singer and oud player Marcel Khalife will be making a special appearance with the Palestinian Youth Orchestra. A thunderous 100-part orchestra and choir will apply themselves to "Ahmad al-Arabie," a poetic opera with lyrics from Mahmoud Darwish. The vocal talents of Oumayma al-Khalil and Reem Talhami will augment what promises to be a must-see evening.

Last but not least comes Kadim al-Sahir, the Iraqi heart-throb, returning to Beiteddine by popular demand. One of the most successful singers of the Arabic world, with album sales of more than 30 million under his belt, the singer will again charm Beiteddine audiences with his rendering of the poetry of Nizar Kabbani.

Tickets for all events can be purchased from Virgin Megastores. For further information, call +961 1 999 666

 

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