An Ecstasy with Music by Umm Kulthum
Although little known in the Western world, the singer Umm Kulthum—the “Callas of Egypt”—is one of the greatest icons of classical Arabic music.
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طرب / TARAB
Her profound songs, some lasting as long as 45 minutes, and her concerts, which could run up to four hours, took on operatic dimensions in the second half of the 20th and captivated people across the Middle East, transcending boundaries of age, faith, and origin.
Today, it seems more important than ever to harness the border-crossing power of this exceptional artist and transport people in Berlin-Neukölln into a trance-like state of collective ecstasy. This is what “tarab” means in the Arab world: bodies are seized, enraptured, and enchanted by the music.
The songwriter, singer, and cellist Nesrine Belmokh and director Sjaron Minailo create a collage of diverse Umm songs for a trio of Umm women on stage, accompanied by the Berlin ensemble transmusica.
WITH Rita El-Achkar, Waed Bouhassoun, Basma Jabr
MUSICIANS ensemble transmusica – Valentin Link (bass), Bernd Oezsevim (drums)
- ARRANGEMENTS / COMPOSITION Nesrine Belmokh DIRECTOR Sjaron Minailo
- SET DESIGN Shahrzad Rahmani
- DRAMATURGY Raphael Amahl Khouri
- OUTSIDE EYE Dennis Depta
- ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / PRODUCTION MANAGER Joelina Spiess
LANGUAGE Arabic, with German and English surtitles
