An Egyptian woman who studied in France, went to Italy, and sang everywhere in the world and achieved an impressive success with her golden voice, as many called her, especially following they got to know her closely on the way of the mummies. She is the international Egyptian soprano Amira Selim, who belongs to an artistic family. The late plastic artist Ahmed Fouad Selim, and her mother, the international Egyptian pianist Marcel Matti, who stood on the theaters of France, Italy and others between singing solo or presenting the main roles in many international operas.. She spoke to “Al Arabiya.net” regarding her celebration of the people’s musician Sayed Darwish and her concert. In Bahrain and regarding mummies and other things.
I recently participated in a party in Bahrain and the hall raised a slogan full number?
It is not the first time that I give a concert at the Sheikh Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research in the Kingdom of Bahrain, but it is the second year in a row, but this year I presented a group of different songs with a mixture of classics and the art of light song in different languages such as French, English and Arabic, including works by the author The French Michel Le Grand and the American Bernstein, as well as some Arabic and Egyptian songs by Sayed Darwish and Farid al-Atrash, and also in the ancient Egyptian language.
I also cooperate with the great French pianist Nicolas Chevreau, who has previously held many concerts together in France, Europe, Muscat, Oman and others, but what made me most happy that night was the attendance, which was harmonious and happy and showed more than reactions following the concert, where many congratulated me who are they.
She received many honors as the best soprano for 2021 at the Excellence and Quality Conference and from one of the British magazines?
Honoring is a great honor for me, especially among a large number of great artists that I love and cherish, and there is a kind of responsibility I feel following any honor, which is to complete the artistic message that I present through my art, and always stay at the level I have reached, which is A big challenge for me, but on the other hand it encourages me.
Did you have a special celebration for the people’s musician “Sayed Darwish”?
I celebrated the 130th anniversary of the birth of this great musician. He was ahead of his time and had the courage to use melodies and words. Darwish always lives with me with his songs and melodies. This project has been in my mind for a long time until I sat with my mother, Marcel Matta, and we decided to present the song “What is the phrase?” In a new and different way, the song was transformed to use the voice as an instrument and the words were removed from it in order to give more value to Sayed Darwish’s melody. I also added different words to the song. This song is considered one of the most important songs of the people’s artist Sayed Darwish, the greatest composer of Egypt in the early twentieth century, and the father of musical theater in Egypt, but I chose the name “Nostalgia” for the clip.
And what does this name refer to to you?
“Nostalgia” means nostalgia for the past and for everything that is beautiful, which is what I presented through the clip, which I consider to be a work of art representing three generations, the generation of one of the greatest musicians in Egypt, Sayed Darwish, with his genius and his original Egyptian music, and Gilles Marcel Matta, the first Egyptian pianist to play in Dar The Khedive Opera and the first Egyptian piano professor at the Institute of Music at the Academy of Arts, educator of generations of Egyptian musicians and instrumentalists in Egypt and abroad, then my generation and what I presented so far, and this work I consider as a new point in my communication with my audience.
Did you choose France to shoot the clip?
Choosing the place was a common idea between me and my mother in order to revive the memory of the late in a way that highlights the spirit of the new time and nostalgia for the beautiful Egyptian past, and at the same time has tenderness, elegance, pampering and naughtiness. Egypt, especially in Paris, where I live most of the year, with the ancient Egyptian aspect in costumes, melody and words, which I presented in Nostalgia.
Why did you choose Sayed Darwish?
I sing the songs of the late Sayed Darwish, at all parties, and I work on reviving Sayed Darwish’s music and presenting it outside Egypt, because the late was inclined to renewal, and I want the listener to live in this new and renewed state.
Tell us regarding the scenes of the clip.
After my mother, Marcel Matti, participated in the selection of the work that we might present to this great musician, until I recorded the song “Eh Al-Farra” in the studio last June, accompanied by my mother playing the piano, without words but only through my voice, as my voice turns into a musical instrument , expresses the lyrical melody with curves, musical phrases, colors and different vocal layers in a classic oriental style, and it is left to the listener to translate the meaning and freedom of feeling and his own sense, and following we finished it last June, I filmed it in a video clip in the French capital, Paris with director Medhat Saudi and French production for So Company Freakantastik for its owner Olivier Delice and Hisham Abdel Khaleq.
What regarding your participation in the celebration of the mummies?
I am very happy because I contributed even in part to introducing the Egyptian people in their ancient language, the language of the Pharaohs, and this ceremony created a great interaction between me and the audience, and made many people research more regarding our pharaonic history, and thus we care regarding our ancient Egyptian identity, and we have curiosity to understand the Egyptian language Old age and more curiosity to enjoy a new art and a different musical color, and to understand and enjoy the idea of classical music and thus all of this created many reactions and encouraged me to continue the journey.
What are your aspirations for the coming period?
My aspirations are to get closer to people through my tools and my music. In principle, I want to present a project in the ancient Egyptian language, which is difficult. After the mummies, I did not find the batch I imagined, but I am working on it, as I worked on the song “Eh Al-Gabara”, so I worked on it in a mold A bit classic, and of course I will present songs that suit my voice and personality and are written specifically for me, and I hope that this will bring me closer to people.
What new projects are you preparing for?
There are upcoming projects, but following Ramadan, I am already preparing for it. It will be a surprise to the audience, and I will enter it from the great portal of cinema and drama to the audience.
