The Lebanese opera singer Ghada Ghanem performed last week in Beirut a variety of Arabic songs which go back to old Arab singers including Mohammed al Kasabji, Brothers Rahabani, Sayyed Darwish, Mohammed Abdel Wahhab, Farid al Atrash and Daoud Hosni.
The singer’s voice combined between east and west as she moved between songs of Fairouz, Umm Kulthoom, Laila Murad and Asmahan.
Ghada’s continuos longing for the eastern songs prompted her while she was in New York to train on singing and musical opera under the direction of Simon Shahin, a specialist in the Middle Eastern music.
20 songs were sung at Monday’s feature preceded by the music piece Thekrayati (My Memoirs) by Mohammed al Kasabji which was played by a miniature orchestra. From the first song Rajaat Liali Zaman (Old Songs Revived) by brothers Rahabani, Ghanem captivated her audience. She also did well in singing Qud Ataka Yaatatheru (He Came to apologize for You), Hairanah Laih (Why Are You Perplexed?) and Ana Albi Dalili (My Heart is My Guide).
The songs of Rahabani constituted the largest part of the feature as she sang Law Kan Qalbi; ya man Hawa and Lamlamt Thekra Liqaa al Ams -- Albawaba.com
