Fairouz weaves magic musical web

Legendary Lebanese singer, Fairouz and her son, famous composer, Ziad Al Rahbani, enchanted around 2,500 fans at a two-hour concert at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel on Thursday. Fairouz was accompanied by 70 musicians from the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra led by Garin Dol Girian.

She was warmly welcomed by an audience from all nationalities.

Fairouz sang around 18 old and new songs composed by the Al Rahbani brothers – Assy (her husband) and Mansour and Ziad – as well as new Mawaweel (a traditional Arabic form of singing), which were released for the first time.

The new songs were Sabah wi Mesah (Morning and Evening), Kissa Bisha'a Kteer (A Very Ugly Story), Ana Fiza'anih (I am Scared) and Ya Dia'anou (Alas).

The audience's response was so overwhelming that Fairouz was forced to make several encores following the concert, to repeat particular songs; Ishtatellak (I Miss you), El Bint El Shalabiya (Shalabiya Girl), Ya Hourrass (Hey Guards) and Habeit Ma Habeit Ya Dia'anou (I Loved or Did Not Love).

During the concert, her song for Palestine, Ya Hourras (Hey Guards), emotionally charged the audience, who leaped to their feet and joined her by clapping, tapping their feet and repeating the words.

Ziad, who is known to be a musical genius since he was 17, also played some of his own pieces as well as excerpts from his mother's songs.

Ziad had redistributed many of Fairouz's old songs composed by Assy and Mansour, into a mixture of old and modern Arabic music that appealed to newer generations of her fans. Many of the older generations still prefer her old tunes.