JBEIL, Lebanon: A refreshing breeze blew through the Byblos International Festival’s seafront venue Wednesday evening, and the stage’s lighting design projected a magical quality upon the proceedings. Colorful lights glittered from the rocks offshore, while the lapping of waves could be heard in the background, promising to transport those assembled to a place far removed from the heat of economic crisis and humidity of security concerns.
The promise was kept by vocalists Ghassan Saliba, Hiba Tawaji, Ronza, Nader Khoury, Simon Obeid and Elie Khayat, who gathered for an evening of music by Lebanon’s first family of music, the Rahbanis.
“Rahbani Summer Night” saw the sextet of soloists accompanied by the National Symphonic Orchestra of Ukraine, under the baton of Volodymyr Sirenko, reinforced by an ensemble of local tarab musicians and a 20-voice choir.
Produced and orchestrated by Oussama and Ghady Rahbani, this tribute to the works of Assi and Oussama Rahbani kept the audience awash in music for almost three hours and propelled it to its feet on multiple occasions.
Oussama Rahbani manned the piano during the show. Ghady read poems – some of which brought tears to the eyes of certain spectators.
“The Rahbani nation,” he read at one point, “is for everyone,” a sentiment that provoked the audience to burst into applause.
The orchestra and the chorus – a blend of Western and Middle Eastern instrumentation that included violins, cellos, harps, derbake and other Arabic percussion, vocals and winds – mingled to form a musical cocoon about soloists and audience alike.
The lyrics were in Arabic but this was no barrier. Whether the vocalists were performing solo or in ensemble, the energy and mood of each was obvious and irresistible, even to spectators who couldn’t understand what was being recited and sung.
Although she seemed a little shy at certain points, Aida Tomb (aka Ronza) was as resplendent in her red gown as her voice was dazzling.
If anything, her quiet stage presence only added to the sophistication of her performance. Much famed in the 1980s, the erect and smiling Ronza demonstrated that the passage of time need not diminish talent.
Perhaps the most surprising singer of the evening was the purple-clad Hiba Tawaji (b. 1987). Shifting from subtlety to dynamism, Tawaji aroused goose-bumps (if not tears) in many spectators.
Tomb and Tawaji’s duet performance was flabbergasting.
Listeners also cheered Tawaji’s stirring rendition of “Ya Hajal Sanin,” a tune made famous by Fairouz. The instant she warbled her first notes of a cappella, the Byblos audience wailed and waved their arms in the air.
Ghassan Saliba was another crowd pleaser, compelling the audience demand an encore from him – a request to which he was pleased to comply. When Oussama Rahbani left his piano stool at one point to demonstrate a few dance moves, most of the spectators could be heard to express their astonishment.
Vocalists Simon Obeid, Elie Khayat and Nader Khoury also proved to be outstanding performers, each marked by elegance and respect. Obeid’s stage presence is not unlike that of a matador. For his part, Khoury’s calm elocution made him look every inch the embodiment of a hakawati. Khayat’s powerful voice made certain female listeners visibly quiver.
Maestro Sirenko conducted the orchestra with great subtlety and his modest professionalism was a great pleasure to witness. Each musician followed Sirenko’s gestures the way a puppet would his master. Beneath his steady hand all the individuals on stage were unified as a single entity.
He even betrayed a sense of humor, and made the audience laugh a few times. Unable to leave the stage because the voluminous gowns of the female performers blocked his way, Sirenko gestured significantly to Ronza and Tawaji until they understand they had to move.
This evening in Byblos was a tribute not merely to the music of the Rahbani brothers, but to the country’s cultural heritage generally.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on July 19, 2013, on page 16.