Thursday, June 13, 2013

Wait, I thought they didn't know Aramaic!

ARAMAIC WATCH: An angel sings in Arabic … and Aramaic.
The young and beautiful Lebanese diva, Abeer Nehme, is blessed with the voice of an angel and a natural charm that occasionally borders on shyness. Abeer is totally endearing and she had the audience spellbound from the moment she stepped on stage. Her programme was rooted in the religious traditions of the Middle East. She sang in Arabic, Syriac and Aramaic and she explained in French how each language has its own musical notation. At times the musical tone was set by the Middle eastern kanoun – a type of zither – and at times by an electric organ that gave me a strangely displaced sensation – it sounded more like being in church than being in Fes.
She does have a lovely voice.