Director Jack Janson from Holland has made an agreement with Lebanese diva Fairouz for a documentary film about her life. The film is to revolve around the life of Fairouz from the beginning of her singing career up to her rise to stardom.
According to the Egyptian weekly, Al Nojoom, the film will also focus on the singers patriarchic stance and her love for Lebanon that kept her in her country during the time of war refusing to flee. Jack’s fascination with the life of Fairouz and her fame, made him feel the necessity of educating the West with the life of a woman who has proven to be a singing icon rarely found.
On a different note, Fairouz will be hosting a live concert alongside her son Ziad Rahbani early next month in Dubai. Preparations for the Fairuz and Ziad Rahabani’s concert are underway where a mixture of various styles, old and new, Eastern and Western, serious and fun, with a dash of sociopolitical commentary thrown in will be combined in the big event.
An orchestra of 60, with musicians from different European countries and two Arabs (from Syria and Lebanon), led by maestro Karn Dier Gharyan will accompany the great singer. In addition to 10 Lebanese chorus members will join Fariouz. The program will be different from the concert programs she has recently performed in different cities of the world.
Born and educated in Beirut, Fairouz began her musical career as a chorus member at the Lebanese Radio Station. In the late 1950s her talent as a singer became fully acknowledged due to her unprecedented enthusiasm and vocal superiority. Fairouz's early songs featured the singer's distinct vocal timbre and lyrics expressing romantic love and nostalgia for village life.
By the early 1960s Fairouz was already one of the main attractions at the annual Baalbeck Festival and a celebrity not only in Lebanon but also throughout the Arab world. During most of her singing career, Fairouz was part of a three-member team that included the two Rahbani brothers. Generally, Mansour Rahbani wrote her lyrics, and the tunes were composed and arranged by his brother Assi, Fairouz's former husband. Fairouz's songs owe a great deal to the musical and poetic genius of these two Lebanese artists. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
