Enchanting 
legacy

Instead, the Rahbani Legacy was a series of very short classical Arabic songs, performed by a handful of Lebanese classical singers and accompanied by the Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra.

The Rahbani Legacy was a tribute to the hugely influential musical legacy of the Rahbani Brothers — Assi and Mansour — created by Mansour’s sons, Ghadi and Oussama Rahbani. It was commissioned by the 10^th annual Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF), which celebrated classical music, ballet and arts throughout the month of March.

Coming from a small town in the northern suburbs of Beirut, Assi (1923-1986) and Mansour (1925-2009) took the path of their musical career while working as paperboys at a radio channel in Beirut, dealing with the music sheets and lyrical editing. Eventually, they composed their own jingle and suggested it to the supervisor at the channel, Halim El Roumi, the father of the famous singer Majida El Roumi. Halim was so impressed that he further encouraged them to compose some more, paying and broadcasting the brothers’ compositions.

The jingles were usually aired live and the brothers’ perfectionism became one of their trademarks as they demanded a lot of time in rehearsal and preparation and efforts from the singers to yield the maximum results.

In 1951, Nouhad Haddad (later known as Fairuz, Middle East’s most famous, loved and influential female singers, alongside Um Khulsum), one of the singers in the channel’s chorus, came to the attention of Halim El Roumi. Assi composed her very first song, “Itab” (“Blame”).

Halim El Roumi attended the recording session and asked Assi to compose more songs for her. Assi and Mansour Rahbani and Fairuz soon became one of the most prominent groups on the Lebanese music scene. The trio released about 50 songs in the following three years and found it more convenient to split from the channel and work on their own without the employment restrictions.

Then, in 1953, Assi proposed to Fairuz and the couple was married a year later.

In 1957, the trio performed for the first time at Lebanon’s Baalbeck International Festival; it was the first time that local Lebanese artists had appeared in the festival.

It was the beginning of an extraordinary musical collaboration that lasted two decades. At the end of 70s, the trio decided to part ways, but they all continued on separate musical journeys, until 1986, when Assi passed away. A musical re-union with Fairuz, Mansour and other members of the Rahbani family happened in 1998. It was back at the Baalbeck International Festival.

At the end of the show, Fairuz sang to Assi’s memory: “I came to Baalbeck after 20 years, asking where you are, but no one could tell me. Don’t say you are not here, your shadow is still fluttering on these stairs, calling into the echoes...”

The Rahbani Legacy was no easy job for Mansour’s sons, Ghadi and Oussama, but the packed audience at the Emirates Palace agreed they did their father proud. The concert traced legacy of the Rahbani brothers, featuring works by Assi and Mansour, as well as solo compositions by Mansour Rahbani, in addition to his collaborations with Oussama and Ghadi, all of which being presented in a new orchestration specially created for this event.

“A fundamental component of our work at the festival is honouring regional artists, and the Rahbanis are the regional artists par excellence. This evening’s exploration was not only uplifting and inspiring, but also educational and informative as it preserves and upholds the legacy of artistic creativity left to us by these prolific brothers, who were arguably the most influential musical force of the 20^th century in the Arab world. To have the opportunity for the inheritors of that legacy to explore and illuminate it for our festival audience is an incredible gift, and we are so pleased that it was so warmly received by the audience here tonight,” said Hoda Al Khamis Kanoo, founder and artistic director of ADF.

The evening began with a procession of Emirati drummers and children in traditional Emirati attire carrying the UAE and Lebanese flags, walking down the auditorium to the stage.

The brilliant Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Volodymyr Sirenko, one of the night’s “heroes”, took their seats, followed by Oussama Rahbani at piano and a choir of 20.

What followed was a carefully assembled mosaic of the familiar strains of dabke numbers, patriotic songs, pieces from musical operas and powerful love songs made famous by the legendary Fairuz.

Clapping and singing along, the audience was in trance! The voices of Fairuz and Mohammed Abdel Wahab (who also collaborated with the Rahbani brothers) may be irreplaceable, but the night’s seven performers did an outstanding job. Ghassan Saliba, who started his career with the Rahbani brothers in 1977, Ronza, the “beloved child” of Assi and Mansour Rahbani, Fadia Tomb El Hage, who began her musical career at 14 with Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers, Hiba Tawaji, a soprano with four octave range, Simon Obeid, who performed in many musical plays of Rahbani brothers, Nader Khoury, who began his career with Mansour Rahbani and Elie Khayat, the Placido Domingo of Lebanon, all received standing ovations from an utterly moved crowd. — silvia@khaleejtimes.com