Marcel Khalife in France and a distinguished participation in the Viennese Jazz Festival.
The artist Marcel Khalife visited the Vienna Jazz Festival in a wonderful musical performance composed of music and poetry by Mahmoud Darwish, entitled: “Mahmoud, Marcel and I”.
This title did not come randomly, as it summarizes a four-decade-old artistic history and a semi-spiritual relationship between Marcel’s art and the Palestinian poet. The first album of the veteran Lebanese artist saw the light four decades ago, all of his words were from the poetry of Ibn Nazareth, who died one day in the summer of 2008. This work at the time marked the birth of a friendship between the poet and the artist that did not affect Darwish’s departure from this world.
The Roman theater in Vienne was filled with a multicultural audience who came to enjoy the art of Marcel Khalife, who was accompanied in this view by his son Bashar Mar Khalifa, a singer and pianist, and his nephew Sari Khalifa on the violin, in addition to other musicians of French, Turkish and Bulgarian origin.
The dread of the place gave Marcel’s voice and promises another dread that was only penetrated by the thunderous applause of the audience, who were of all ages and of all nationalities, even those who did not understand the Arabic language.
“Beirut is our tent…Beirut is our star.”
The years did not affect the voice of the committed artist, who exceeded his seventies by two years. It was, as we have always known, pure, strong and cheerful at the same time. At the beginning of the show, the audience was delighted with the song “Beirut is our tent.. Beirut is our star.. We will not leave the scene.”
These words provoked the ire of some of the Lebanese expatriates, one of whom told Euronews that Marcel represents Lebanon’s heritage and gives him a dose of optimism that “the country is still standing and there is still hope,” in reference to The exhausted country is on the verge of bankruptcy Where there is no government or electricity.
Masterpieces from a long time ago
After that, Marcel sang masterpieces that generations and generations were brought up to hear and were part of contemporary Arab history.
Among these works that the genius of Mahmoud Darwish developed: “Ahmed Al-Arabi” and “I am Youssef, my father,” and of course the poem “Rita and the Gun,” which the able artist read, translated into French, for the non-Arabic speaking audience before he embraced his oud and entertained the audience with her words and melody.
Palestine always..
Of course, Palestine was present at this party, as Marcel wore a flag occupied country For many decades, the theater erupted with applause and cheers.
In this regard, one of the women told Euronews that Marcel’s presence was very influential and that she was clapping her tears instead of her hands, as she put it, adding that his message is peace and that Palestine It is still present, and the evidence is that he raised it to the Palestinian flag.”
About the Vienna Festival
The Vienna Festival is considered to be aJazz One of the most famous music festivals in France. The most distinctive feature of this event is its cultural diversity, as it annually embraces international artists who come to amaze the audience with their musical creations on the ancient Roman theater, which was built in the first century AD in the city of Vienne in southeastern France, which has a history of 2500 years.
This year, the festival extinguished its forty-first candle, with the participation of 1,000 artists annually and the attendance of at least 200,000 people. It started on the 29th of June and will continue until the 13th of July.
