17 August 2010
Preview
BEIRUT: There are different ways of seeing the month of Ramadan. Islam’s holy month of fasting, when Muslims deny themselves food, drink and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset, can be difficult to comprehend in an age of consumption and instant gratification – especially when it falls in the sweltering heat and humidity of a Beirut August-September.
After iftar, when Muslims break the daily fast, daytime denial is balanced by nighttime celebration. After sunset, Lebanese cafes and restaurants echo with laughter and the wafting scent of narghileh as fasters head out for evening diversions.
Some of the city’s theater spaces are offering more formal entertainment programs, all of them promising to offer up a menu to appeal to a varied musical palate. Like the cafes and restaurants, these spaces don’t distinguish between patrons who are fasting and those who aren’t, and they don’t care whether you’re Muslim or not.
Commencing on August 18, the Ramadan program of Hamra’s Babel Theater, not far the American University Hospital, is entitled “Ramadan Tarab and Music.” True to its name, the program will host an array of oriental music performances.
Oud virtuoso Ziad Sahhab will perform the opening night show. A composer known for incorporating classical Arabic poetry into his music, Sahhab has so far launched two CDs “Ouyoun El Ba’ar (Cows’ Eyes)” and “Keep on Singing.”
The program takes on an Iraqi flavor on August 21, as the Hamam Abdel Khaleq ensemble will bring an evening of Iraqi traditional music to the Babel stage.
Jazz music aficionados will appreciate Ziad al-Ahmadieh’s August 25 show as the band serves up a helping of its “Silent Wave,” its own rendition of Oriental Jazz.
A choral extravaganza follows on August 26 as “Al-Fiha,” a 40-strong choir of talented young Lebanese, will regale the Babel audience with much-loved songs from the Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi, Palestinian, Syrian, and Armenian folk tradition.
Solo vocalist Nisreen Hmeidan will take the stage on August 28 to perform her rendition of the famous repertoire of Egypt’s famed late-composer and singer, Sheikh Imam.
On the first two days of September, the Babel Theater will host Shoyoukh Salateen al-Tarab. This traditional ensemble of musicians and performers from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo celebrate their Arab and Muslim heritage through songs and performances, including the famous ecstatic whirling many have come to associate with Sufi-inflected chant.
The Babel’s Ramadan program will come to an official close on September 4 with a concert by Lebanese vocalist Sami Hawwat.
Just a couple of blocks away from the Babel, on Hamra Street itself, is one of the city’s great theatrical institutions, the Masrah al-Madina. Here, another Ramadan program, “Ramadan fi al-Madina” (Ramadan in the city), begins on August 19.
On the opening night, the classical oriental artist Dunia Massoud will send folkloric Egyptian music ricocheting off the theatre’s walls.
Firkat al-Darawich, a Sufi ensemble from Syria, is scheduled to perform on August 20.
In what may be the highlight of the Madina program, on August 24 Lebanon-based Egyptian oud virtuoso Mustafa Said will host an evening of contemporary classical Arabic music entitled “Kalam el-Nagham w Alhan el-Shi’r” (Words of Music and Melodies of Poetry). This concert of music features two waslas, one instrumental and the other vocal. Both draw on old and contemporary poetry. All the music is newly composed by Said himself.
The Lebanese vocalist Khaled al-Abdallah, known for winning the 1993 Studio al-Fan award for tarab music, will perform a diverse assortment of oriental songs on August 26.
The Syrian artist and composer Bashar Rizkan, who has received excellent reviews of past performances in Lebanon, will host a concert entitled “Ana Man Ahwa” (I’m the subject of my admiration) on September 2.
Finally, Jahida Wehbeh will provide the grand finale of the Masrah al-Madina’s Ramadan program on September 4, with an evening of uniquely Lebanese tarab.
All shows at the Masrah al-Madina and the Babel Theater commence at 10 pm. Ticket prices at the Babel Theater range from LL25,000 to LL35,000; for more details call +961 1 744033. Masrah al-Madina’s ticket prices range from LL15,000 to LL35,000; for further details call +961 1 753010-11.
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
