Fairuz Stuff

A space fully dedicated to FAIRUZ, created and run by Ali Raffaele, based in Rome. Considering the stereotyped image of the immensely popular diva in the Arab world, this space aims to be a culturally different point of view about a singer like few others in history. Fairuz deserves more than vulgarly being called "the voice of the morning". • ARCHIVE

[fairuzstuff]

خلصوا الأغاني هني و يغنوا عالجنوب

خلصوا القصايد هني و يصفوا عالجنوب

و لا الشهدا قلوا و لا الشهدا زادوا

اذا واقف جنوب واقف بولادو

خلصوا القضايا هني و يردوها عالجنوب

كسروا المنابر هني و يعدوا عالجنوب

اللي عم يحكوا اليوم هو غير اللي ماتوا

اللي معتر بكل الأرض دايما هوي ذاتو

هيدي مش غنيي هيدي بس تحيي ... و بس

Pictures from Fairuz and Ziad live at Beiteddine Festival, 2001

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Born in 1934 on November 20th, the legendary Fairuz turns 90 today. As Baalbeck and all Lebanon is now suffering under Isræli indiscrimate bombing which is targeting all Lebanon's historic and cultural heritage, once again we have nothing left than Fairuz.

She deserves way more than being put in such a postcard pose at the Baalbeck roman ruines but this shall remind us of the richness of Lebanon which will never be replaced nor cancelled, in spite of every ziønist attempt to erase us.

Vive Fairuz! Vive la résistance!

(C) Footage by Reema Rahbany, 1994

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The South of Lebanon 2015

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HAPPY 89TH BIRTHDAY MADAME FAIRUZ

In 1991, two songs by FAIRUZ were featured in the soundtrack of French film Les Amants du Pont Neuf - directed by Leos Carax, starring Denis Lavant and Juliette Binoche

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HAPPY 88TH BIRTHDAY MADAME FAIRUZ

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Fairuz in her most recent apparition with Reema

(C) Reema Rahbany

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عاحبك ربينا وبعزك غنينا Joyeux anniversaire à madame Fairuz, née le 20 novembre 1934 (Séquences extraits de Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, Paris 1988)

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The historical meeting between Président Macron and Madame Fairuz August 31 2020 © Soazig de la Moissonniere / Présidence de la République

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Non solo Fairuz – Q Code Magazine

About the recent wave of Arabic jazz and electronic music released thoughout Europe and the reissue of WAHDON, the first album produced by Ziad Rahbani for Fairuz in 1979.

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Madame Fairuz attending the Solemn Appeal on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions in 1999. She was formally invited as a representative of the Arab world, Middle East and North Africa, along with other international personalities, in order to declare once again the refusal to see the horrors of the Second World War repeated. Instead of giving a talk, she insisted on singing only a single song, Al Ard Lakom, over a poem by Gibran. Throughout her long and still ongoing career, Fairuz has never been only considered a diva but an icon of culture, peace and cohesion at her highness.

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Fairuz in the backstage of her Las Vegas’ performance 1999

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LONG LIVE to the eternal FAIRUZ who turns 85 today. "Despite the many sorrows betrayed on her face, her voice expresses a profound generosity that the audience applaude by whistling, stamping, dancing, and listening. As she proceedes from song to song, she recedes into her memory. Her old power returnes, and with it those inflexions which are hers in particular, and with which she transforms the most ordinary words into a mystical experience." (ETEL ADNAN, 2000)

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Within the timeline of Fairuz, the 1981 Legend and Legacy tour, which took place in the USA and Canada for about two months, is with no doubt her longest and most successful tour. Part of its importantance comes from the historical fact that it was Fairuz’s first attempt to perform without the presence (and therefore the “pressure”) of the Rahbani Brothers, after they separated in the second half of 1979. Her performances during this tour are her brightest. She introduced the audience to a slightly different way of performing, wearing in some occasion a delightful crown on her head and singing both new songs and hits of her past repertoire, rearranged with creativity by Ziad Rahbani. It’s simply unforgettable the magical jazzy rearrangement of Habbeytak bel Saif, one of her most adored hits of all time. The cherry on top is the one-night-only concert at the general lobby of the UN’s headquarter in New York, aimed to homage Gibran Khalil Gibran. For the occasion she sang -for the first time in public- Safinati bi Intizari, also known as Al Ardo Lakom, composed by Ziad Rahbani himself with lyrics by Gibran, taken from “The Prophet” book. About this night, there’s a wondrous dossier written by American expert Hoberman and partially cited in the booklet of “Fairuz At The Royal Festival Hall London 1986” CD.

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Lebanese diva Fairuz' 1978 album Wahdon reissued on vinyl

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A very cool record label from France, named WeWantSound, is releasing the most interesting world music masterpieces on vinyl. After having turned the light back on Japanese pioners of Electronic music Yellow Magic Orchestra and Akiko Yano, former life partner of legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto, WeWantSound has made Ziad Rahbani's Abu Ali available again in its original vinyl format. Now it's the turn of Wahdon, the very first joint album between Fairuz and her son Ziad Rahbani, recorded during the Abu Ali sessions in 1978. For the occasion, French web radio TSUGI has broadcasted a remastered version of "Habaitak Ta Neseet Al Naoum" ("I loved you so much i forgot to sleep").

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ziad rahbani

official ziad rahbani channel on Vimeo

And Ziad Rahbani did it again. The legendary Lebanese master of music joined the internet, giving his eager fans what they longed for. His official entrance on the net happened definitely later than that of any other artist, as of February 2019. A full decade after his sister Rima Rahbani decided to randomly scatter, both on Facebook and Youtube, some of the videos she edited, filmed and/or directed for Fairuz during her last twenty years, over several channels: a personal one and an official account for Fairuz,opened in 2009 and later dismissed and replaced by another one, named "Fayrouz Productions". Not forgetting the ra7neb2asawa channel, conceived mainly as a tribute for Assi Rahbani, along with the homonym Facebook page. At the beginning of 2018, she also appeared on Vimeo with another scarsely updated channel, increasing her own presence on the Internet. By directly chosing to open a PRO account on Vimeo, a more professional platform for artists than Youtube, Ziad Rahbani did an exceptional step in showing once more his professionality. Up to now, the account appears constantly updated, containing a dozen of fully filmed concerts (sliced into several parts, due to length constraints) with never seen before pictures and footages of rehearsals at Studio Notta. In his clear attempt to differentiate himself, the videos he is enriching the net with are all in high definition and, obviously, lack of any watermark in the middle, offering his own repertoire to the audience of the Internet. It's literally impossible to hope for something afferent to Fairuz herself to be shown in high quality on Ziad's Vimeo channel but, who knows what will time reveal?

[thefrenchbohemian]

In the abandoned Elie Saab during the only performance of Sah El-Nawm in Baalbeck, July 2006

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Sah El Nawm holds for now -and probably won't be replaced in the future by any- the case of unique operetta, among dozens, replayed on stage by Fairuz in her post-Rahbani Brothers age. 2018 marks the 10th anniversary since Sah el Nawm's last replica, which run in the 2006-2008 triennium, exclusively in the Middle East area. This musical operetta was originally brought on stage in 1970 and 1971 during the peek of Fairuz's work with Rahbani Brothers, concluded in 1979, and was therefore revived in Lebanon after more than 35 years, in 2006. The events of the work revolve around the figure of a village's monarch (performed by Antoine Kerbaj) who's used to sleep for long periods, thus ignoring and rejecting inhabitans' needs. Not tolerating this context of clear social oppression, Fairuz -whose iconic image with an umbrella comes from her own character in Sah El Nawm- sneaks into the king's office, steals his official stamp and approves all the citizens' projects, thus raising the village's standard of living. Paradoxically, not a single replica of Sah El Nawm happened without being surrounded by political troubles. Starting from the opening in Baalbeck in 2006 on July 12th, suspended because of the imminent Israeli aggression to Lebanon, to the revival of the show, after the war, at Biel in Beirut in December 2006, criticized because of the inappropriateness of doing a joyful event after such a short period from the war, to the prohibition attempts from Mansour Rahbani and sons in Amman in 2007 and in Sharjah in 2008. Not mentioning the poisoned tone raised after Fairuz decided to play the musical in Damascus in 2008. In that occasion, Antoine Kerbaj's cartoonist son Mazen Kerbaj published a satirical cartoon depicting the issue in Lebanese daily Al Akhbar:

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Fairuz escorted by her own brother Joseph Haddad in 1981 during her Legend and Legacy US tour, while autographing for a lucky fan a poster-size picture of her, taken by Dencho Valserra.

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Fairuz in Beiteddine 2000, with her stunning only-once-worn red dress

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Fairuz’s first historic performance at Beiteddine, coordinated by Ziad Rahbani in August 2000, happened exactly 18 years ago. In July 2018, Ziad Rahbani made his long awaited comeback performing with a large chorus and orchestra on the same stage at Beiteddine palace in Lebanon and was later interviewed by radio Sawt al Shaab. During the talk, he expressly urged Rima Rahbani to release the filmed concert of Beiteddine 2000 because, as he remembered: “She worked on it and it’s perfectly ready to be shown. Also, she can’t even complain about the quality of the recording because it’s exactly the same of the already available live CD”. Some short parts of it were broadcasted in the news, years ago, and also, the video of “Sabah ou Masaa” performance from the concert was given to Jack Janssen for his 2003 documentary “We Loved Each Other So Much”. Will someday Rima Rahbani accept to release the whole filmed historical concert?