Maybe because of Mary Magpie’s Falu review earlier today I woke up jonesing for some Arabic music.I would usually go for Sabbah or Fairuz when I want a Middle eastern flavour with my coffee… something poppier,.
Today I am listening to Oum Kalthoum’s “Oulida Alhouda” -a twenty-one minute (in other words short) piece of operatic virtuosis, typical, and typically perfect, as Oum Kalthoum stretches a line through ululations and undulations.
The orchestration is string heavy, very classical, very at the beckoning of the singer.
How good is Oum Kalthoum? The most popular President in Egyptian history, Gamal Nasser, would schdule his radio speeches after one of her radio performance to insure a large audience.
Oum Kalthoum died in 1975 but is still considred one of the historic Arabic popular performers.