Lebanese-French musical event celebrates Arab arts Golden era

AMMAN — A concert-reading event gathered 480 people on Sunday night at the Intercontinental hotel, as part of the Fete de la Francophonie 2018, a month-long celebration of the French language across Jordan.

Organised by the French and Lebanese embassies in Amman, in cooperation with the French Institute (IFJ) and the SGBJ, the event included an eclectic mix of musical pieces interspersed with readings of Franco-Lebanese illustrator Lamia Ziadé's book "Oh night, O my eyes".

The product of a five-year research, the illustrated novel, subtitled "Cairo/Beirut/Damascus/Jerusalem", explores the Golden Era of the arts in the Arab world, highlighting the remarkable lives of its most famous singers and dancers such as Oum Kalthoum, Asmahan or Fairouz.

"The concert was a musical journey through the history of the Middle East and its great voices from Abdelhalim to Fairouz and many others. Tonight, we celebrated Arabic singers acclaimed from Cairo to Paris, based on the book written in French by an artist born in this region: this is the diversity and richness of the Francophone world," French Ambassador to Jordan David Bertolotti told The Jordan Times.

Pierre Casanova, a French teacher at the University of Petra, started off by reading an excerpt of Lamie's book exploring Asmahan's personal journey. His address was followed by the Arabic version of the excerpt, read by Marwan Gharaibeh, press attaché and translator at the French embassy.

Palestinian singer Laila Sabbagh then took over the stage, echoing Lamie's words through an interpretation of Asmahan's "Emta Ha Taaraf" song, along with her four accompanying musicians. 

"We are very proud of Lamia Ziade whose work represents what is finest from Lebanon: a magical blend between East and West," said Lebanese Ambassador to Jordan Tracy Chamoun, adding "the concert recital, which combined her artistry with the performance of a collection of songs from the musical legends of Lebanon was a great event that showed the richness and proud history of both our French and Arabic culture."

The dual event included songs by Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Farid Al Atrach, Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Leila Murad, Souad Mohamed, Nour Al Houda, Sabah, Dalida and Fairouz.

"Our idea was to give a French-Lebanese literary and musical dimension to the Francophonie Month as Lebanon is one of the most active countries in promoting the French language in the region," said Stephane Delaporte, director of the IFJ, adding "France is a country that has always been interested in the classical Arab musical heritage," citing Radio France and the Institute of the Arab World's first publication in 1990 of the "Arab music archives. Cairo Congress 1932.” 

The musical performances were accompanied by some of the 400 illustrations designed by Lamie and included in her book.

Members of the audience expressed their emotions to hear again these songs dating from the golden age. "I was enveloped, both by the voice of Laila Sabbagh but also by the illustrations of Lamia that were projected on the walls. It took me back to the atmosphere of the time and revived the time of my childhood," said a French teacher who attended the concert.