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The Firkat al-Noor ensemble, in collaboration with the Museum for Islamic Art, present a new 4-part series which returns to the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema and the songs performed by the leading characters of the day – Mohammed Abd el-Wahhab, Umm KulthumAsmahanand Farid al-Atrash, Layla Morad and Abdel Halim Hafez.
The series will present the sounds, dances, hits and scenes from the movies featuring these characters, who left their mark on the cinema and Egyptian music.
Presentation and moderation: Hannah Ptaya and Ariel Cohen
The gatherings will take place on Tuesdays, between January 15 2019
and February 5 2019, 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Each session will include
archival footage and pictures, video clips and audio excerpts, and
with live renditions by members of the Firkat al-Noor ensemble.
There will be a festive closing concert on February 12 2019
Price per session: NIS 50
Series subscription (4 sessions): NIS 150
Subscription to the series + concert: NIS 200
Concert ticket: NIS 70
Series subscription + concert: NIS 200: https://eventbuzz.co.il/mnwbl
Series (4 sessions) subscription: NIS 150: https://eventbuzz.co.il/mnwbl
For tickets for the first event: https://eventbuzz.co.il/mfrsz
For tickets for the second event: https://eventbuzz.co.il/ufhpu
For tickets for the third event: https://eventbuzz.co.il/zpahl
For tickets for the fourth event: https://eventbuzz.co.il/vcvqx
Tickets for Concert: NIS 70: https://eventbuzz.co.il/vtzuf
* No prior knowledge required
About the sessions:
Session 1:
Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Tuesday January 15 2019, 8 p.m.
The first movie with singer and composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab was released in 1933, when the Egyptian film industry was just starting out. The movie was wildly successful and flocked to movie theaters to see the character of Mohammed Abdel Wahab on the big screen. In fact, every new movie of Mohammed Abdel Wahab caused great excitement, and expectations, around Egypt and the entire Arab world.
Mohammed Abdel Wahab brought a delicate, elegant, European, romantic and charming style to the screen, His character reflected his own in real life, together with the wonderful songs hew worked into his movies. Mohammed Abdel Wahab, in fact, created a new genre of Egyptian cinema – star singers as lead characters in movies.
Session 2:
Oum Koulthum
Tuesday January 22 2019, 8 p.m.
Oum Koulthum – the preeminent diva of Arabic music, of all time.
Her presence on the stage was very powerful. She had a proud and noble bearing, and a special way of presenting and performing a song. Her body language was subtle. BY moving just one hand, and holding a handkerchief, she melted hearts and made her audiences ecstatic.
Oum Koulthum appeared in 6 movies as the lead character, and always played a character that was similar to her own in real life – a young girl from the country who falls in love with a wealthy respectable man, from a higher social class than hers. She chose the cast for all her movies, and the composers who wrote the songs she sang in the movies.
Session 3:
Asmahan and Farid el-Atrash
Tuesday January 29 2019, 8 p.m.
Asmahan was the stage name of Amal el-Atrash, a famous Druze singer and actress. She was the sister of singer Farid el-Atrash. She was a mysterious character. On the one hand she was a beautiful princess who enjoyed the pleasures of life, but she was also a courageous woman who participated in the struggle against French rule in Syria at the time. Her mysterious death in a road accident sparked a wave of enduring rumors. There were claims that she collaborated with the British who ruled Egypt at the time, and that they had a hand in her death. Asmahan appeared in two movies which were highly successful, and the number she sang in the films became hits.
Farid al-Atrash was a singer, composer, virtuosic oud player and popular actor. He enjoyed a very successful movie career. He starred in over 30 films, and also composed and performed music in all of them. His last movie came out shortly after his death (he died while the film was being shot). His movies featured expansive scenes, enormous orchestras, dozens of female dancers, opulent sets and crafted costumes. The movies in which he appeared reveal him to be a multilayered character: Farid the comic, Farid the depressed, Farid the musician and, above all, Farid the romantic. Farid was popular with the women, possibly because of his touching romantic songs.
Session 4:
Layla Morad Tuesday February 5 2019, 8 p.m.
Layla Morad – a Jewish singer and actress, first appeared on the screen alongside Abdel Halim Haffez, in 1938, in a movie called Yihye Alhoub. She gained amazing success and, over the following 15 years, she starred in no less than 28 movies. Her acting and singing captured the hearts of her audiences, and she became one of the most beloved actresses and singers in her time.
Festive final concert
The best of Egyptian music with the entire Firqat al Noor orchestra
Soloist: Gianna Nadaf
Tuesday February 12 2019, 8 p.m.