Night in the Medina  III

Wednesday  11 May

Sidi Mohamed Ben Youssef Cultural Complex – 20.00

Lamar – Palestine

Arab Songs from Palestine

Lamar, whose real name is Rula Hasna, is one of those young singers who retains the celebrated, deep sensibility of the tarab, a long way from the antiseptic quality put out by Arab television channels.

Lamar is originally from Acre – known in crusader times as St Jean d’Acre. With her husband Mahran Moreb who is a master qanun (dulcimer) player and composer, she concentrates on a repertoire that conjures up the atmosphere found at the musical salons of the sultans of old.  As in the piece Fi A’ainaika O’unwani, she illustrates historic poetry – that of the ancient poets of Palestine and the Arab world during the Renaissance (the Nahda) – right up to Oum Kalthoum who had a true melodic background.

Listening to Lamar, one recalls the compositions of Zakaria Ahmed, Farid al-Atrash and Mohammed Al Qasabji accompanying the diva on the lute, impenetrable behind her dark glasses.