The Egyptian Ministry of Culture is continuing its releases of concerts, theatre performances and lectures on its YouTube channel.
The releases are part of the Culture Between Your Hands initiative, which aims to bring cultural events to audiences online amid the current shutdown of theatres, cinemas and concert halls over the coronavirus pandemic.
Below are five of the highlights featuring the stars of the Arab music firmament.
Angham
Angham, who is considered by some to be among the best Egyptian female voices ever, is always a pleasure to listen to. In the concert she is accompanied by an orchestra under the baton of maestro Hani Farahat.
In this entertaining Cairo Opera concert, Angham sings many of her best-known songs like Ana Ashka' (I'm in Love), Wahda Kamla (A Perfect Woman), 'Tool Manta Beid (As Long As You're Far Away), Mahzouma (Defeated), and, of course, Akteblek Tahoud (Write You a Pledge), which was released almost three years ago to become one of the highlights of Angham's repertoire.
Ali El-Haggar
The concert presents viewers with a selection of patriotic, romantic and nostalgic pieces and rich compositions and poems by legendary Egyptian artists presented by Ali El-Haggar and an orchestra conducted by Ahmed Atef
We are presented with well-known songs such as Men Gheir Ma Tetkallemy (Without you talk), 'Ya Tale' El-Shagara' (You Climbing the Tree), Reish (Feather), Fi Alb El-Leil (In the Middle of the Night), Lamma El-Sheta Yedo' El-Beiban (When Winter Knock Doors), Tegeish Neish (Let's Live), Ana Kont Eidak (I was your Feast), to musical themes from television including Mas'alet Mabda, Kanarya and others, and to a medley of patriotic songs.
As a bonus, singer Hanan Madi has been featured in the concerts singing the classic duets Al-Maal Wal-Banoun, Al-Leqa'a El-Thani, and their very latest Badhak Men alby (I laugh from My Heart) composed by Shady Moanes and written by Salem El-Shahbani.
Medhat Saleh
From the 28th edition of the Arab Music Festival held in November 2019, booming Egyptian singer Medhat Saleh, alongside with an orchestra and pianist Amr Selim, can pass your quarantine time with the joy of oriental music.
Starting his concert with the theme from the television series hit Abou El-Arousa (Father of the Bride) the concert goes onto many well-known songs like Gaey Ala Nafsak, El-Miliorirat and the themes of the films Mafia and Harb Italia.
Saleh as usual chanted some traditional covers including Aal Helwa Welmorra and a medley by Umm Kulthum at the end of his concert, which was concluded with his recent trio hit Dedd El-Kasr.
Talented voice Ibrahim Ramadan was the concert's special guest singing Saleh's classic Kawkab Tany (Another Planet).
Assala
With the orchestra conducted by Hani Farahat, golden voiced Syrian Assala Nasri's performance at the 28th Arab Music Festival could put you in a good romantic mood for the lockdown’s long nights.
Assala sings many of her latest releases like Boaadak Ani (Your Distance Away), El-Haqiqa (The Truth), Ana Hobbek (I'm Your Love), Haga Matkhossaksh (None of Your Business), Mohtama Bel Tafaseel (Caring of Details), Gabo Serto (They Mentioned Him), Nokta Baikha (Selly Joke) and 60 Dqiqa Haiah (60 Minutes of Life).
Omar Khairat
With an orchestra conducted by maestro Nayer Nagui, the concert features the hugely popular Egyptian composer and pianist Omar Khairat featuring guest singers including Ali El-Haggar, Medhat Saleh, Riham Abdel-Hakim and Amina Khairat.
Enjoy the regular repertoire of Omar Khairat in this concert, who appears as the cherry on top of the ministry's channel, being viewed over 667,000 times in two weeks, quadruple the numbers of Angham and Umm Kulthum’s hologram concerts.
Other concerts on the same channel, which has 100,000 YouTube subscribers, include other Arab and Egyptian stars like Mohamed Tharwat, Saber El-Rebai, Mohammad Al-Sharnouby, Carmen Suleiman and many others, with more concerts released on a daily basis.
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