The Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s 14th annual International Summer Festival opened on 29 July 2016 with a concert by iconic Lebanese musician and oud master Marcel Khalife.

Khalife was accompanied by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Orchestra under the baton of maestro Hisham Gabr.

During two hours, Khalife took the audience on a journey that exhibited some of his music compositions, like Sabah Al-Layl (Salute) and Tango La Oyoun Habibti (Tango for my Lover’s Eyes), as well as some of his own songs and selections from the Arabic music repertory.

From his own songs, Khalife revisited some of his important collaborations with late iconic Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish including Rita, Salam Aalayki (Peace Be With You) and Jawaz Al-Safar (Passport); all originally written as poems by Darwish then set to music by Khalife.

Khalife also revisited his collaboration with contemporary Emirati poet Mohamed El-Sewedi titled Ya Sari, as well as Rakwat Arab (Arabic Coffeepot) whose lyrics were written as a poem by celebrated Lebanese poet Talal Haidar and which Khalife then set to music. He also delivered his rendition of Ya Naseem Al Reeh (“Oh, Breeze of the Wind”), by 9th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Husayn ibn Mansur Al-Halla
 

Read our coverage of the concert here