Aghani bel Arabi in the garden of El Dar in Heliopolis, with the traditional singer Rehab Metawi, the soprano Dina Iskander, the mezzo-soprano Jolie Faizy and a small ensemble of piano and Arabic percussion.
Programme
Work
Folk songs by distinguished Egyptian composers
Soloists and artists
Rehab Metawi, traditional Arabic singer; Dina Iskander, soprano; Jolie Faizy, mezzo-soprano; Mirette Hanna, piano; Ramadan Mansour, tabla; Nashaat Yehia, riq
About the music
Sayed Darwish (1892–1923)
Born in Alexandria in 1892, he died there in 1923, aged 31, and is called the father of Egyptian popular music.
In barely a decade he wrote some 260 songs and 26 operettas.
He set “Biladi, Biladi, Biladi”, now Egypt’s national anthem; his songs include “Salma Ya Salama”, “Ahu Da Illi Sar” and “El Helwa Di”.
The first Egyptian woman to formally study composition.
Led the composition and conducting department of the Cairo Conservatoire (1991–97), succeeding Gamal Abdel-Rahim, and received the State Merit Award in 2006.
