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  • The sounds of a musical legend

    The sounds of a musical legend
    By Sarah Ryan

    The Jordan Times
    Monday, September 27, 2004

    AMMAN - The clock ticks. Eight-thirty passes. The restless crowd of
    3,500 people in seats at the Arena begin clapping, sporadic at first,
    then insistent that Fairouz take the stage. Nine-fifteen passes. The
    clapping takes on a thunderous note as the international singing
    legend takes centre stage.

    "She's an angel, I think," said Laila Sabbagh, a 16- year-old who
    has seen Fairouz four times. "Her music is the food of my soul,"
    added Sabbagh

    Fairouz's set-list at the Sept. 25 concert reflected her musical past
    as well as her recent influences.

    She played many of her standards composed by Assi and Mansour
    Rahbani as well as more recent music influenced by her son, Ziad
    Rahbani. Some of the big hits she sang included, `My home,' and
    `Last days of summer.'

    "It's a concert for a new generation," said 25-year-old Samer Nahhas,
    who has been listening to Fairouz for the past 10 years.

    "It was amazing, literally amazing," he said.

    During the song, `I loved you in summer, I loved you in winter,'
    Fairouz added a reference to the Jordan River to the cheers of the
    crowd. Lighter flames dotted the Arena during the quieter moments of
    the concert.

    Wafa Jabour travelled all the way from Nazareth to see Fairouz sing
    for the second time.

    "You feel everything she says. If she speaks about love, you live
    it. If she speaks about war, you feel it," said Jabour.

    During the entire concert Fairouz stood straight and proud, almost
    immobile, in contrast to the orchestra conductor who had the musical
    rhythms running through his veins.

    Fairouz had no words for the audience, only songs.

    Fairouz, who is approaching 70 years of age, sang an average of three
    songs in a row, followed by two instrumental and choir songs while
    she was backstage.

    A 20-minute interval divided the concert into two parts. When
    Fairouz walked on-stage after the intermission, she had traded in
    her long black sparkling gown for a white dress, which glittered in
    the spotlights.

    The Lebanese icon came out for two encores to the delight of the entire
    arena, displaying their appreciation with deafening roars and whistles.

    The first encore had the crowd on their feet with a rendition of the
    Lebanese national anthem.

    Fairouz has been in Amman for the past five days rehearsing with her
    orchestra from Syria, Lebanon and Armenia.

    This was Fairouz's fourth concert in Jordan. She sang in the musical
    play `Petra' in 1973, the Jerash Festival in 1983 and at the Arena
    in 1999.

    Fastlink sponsored the event and all proceeds from the concert will
    go to the charity "Promise," which gives scholarships to Jordanian
    students in financial difficulty.

    Monday, September 27, 2004
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