VIDEOS - Oum Kalthoum Live

[JSngry]

I make no claim at eve a superficial "understanding" of this music. But there's a level at which I'm pretty sure I get it.

I mean, DAMN!!!

[brownie]

Amazing!

Already mentioned somewhere else on this board several years ago that I became an Oum Kalthoum convert when I attended her concert at the Paris Olympia back in 1967. It was the only concert she gave in a non-arab country.

I was there to take photos but was overwhelmed by her performance after a few songs, put aside my cameras and just dug her singing!

[JSngry]

How long did the concert last? Or more to the point, how long did each song last? I've heard stories of her going hours on end, but whether that was for one song or for the whole show, I'm not certain.

[seeline]

There have been bootleg tapes and DVDs of her performances circulating ever since the technology was publicly available...

Lots of grocery stores, etc. sell them, even now. (Same for bootlegs of Indian movies, soundtracks, DVDs of live performances, and so on.)

I even bought a 2-well cassette deck back in the late 80s so that I could dub the bootleg K7s onto good tape - there was just no other way of getting Indian popular music at that time, short of having a connection with EMI India.

Edited May 1, 2010 by seeline

[JSngry]

...these Arooh Lemeen sessions of hers...

I don't know what that means. Please elucidate.

[7/4]

I own a few of these...amazing music.

Robert Plant claims her as an influence.

[seeline]

...these Arooh Lemeen sessions of hers...

I don't know what that means. Please elucidate.

it's the title of the song...

http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/Songs/arooh.html'>http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/Songs/arooh.html

http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/

Google is your friend.

Edited May 1, 2010 by seeline

[JSngry]

That's more than I knew before, but how does a song title & "sessions" fit together discussing concert footage?

[seeline]

The Olympia: yes.

[brownie]

How long did the concert last? Or more to the point, how long did each song last? I've heard stories of her going hours on end, but whether that was for one song or for the whole show, I'm not certain.

The Olympia concert lasted some five hours.

Fans from the Middle East flew in to Paris for her appearance.

I had never seen before such a passionate relationship between performer and audience. And never saw anything approaching that since.

I also remember quite a number of North Africa-born jewish fans attending the concert and sharing the fervor!

Bought several LPs of her afterwards but they failed to capture the magic!

[mikeweil]

If you are able to view satellite TV in Europe you can see these pretty often, broadcast by stations from Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. As well as other Arabian music, classic and folklore, form these countries. I love this stuff, especiallly the more culturally mixed stuff from Morocco. 

Om Kalthoum is a performer on the level of Mahalia Jackson or any other great singer in the world - a book like Habib Hassaan Touma's The Music of the Arabs or Henry George Farmer's A History of Arabian Music will give you basic insight.

Or take this for some insight on the singer: