Princesses of Arab Song

If any serious young Arab singer were going to devise the most challenging recording project imaginable, they'd probably come up with this one. The mighty triumvirate of Oum Kalthoum, Asmahan & Fairuz hold a tenacious grip on the Middle Eastern musical consciousness and their songs retain an iconic status that you meddle with at your peril. So it is quite remarkable that the Tunisian singer Dorsaf Hamdani has released an album that succeeds in both celebrating the three great ladies’ legacy and presenting herself as a formidable talent. The choice of repertoire is extremely clever, avoiding any of the divas’ obvious signature songs but allowing just enough of their original character to colour her own performances.

It was an inspired and disarming idea to place an unaccompanied performance of the Fairuz lullaby ‘Yalla tnam Rima’ as the opening track. However, what really makes this CD so individual are the songs’ refined and thoroughly Arab arrangements. In contrast to the melodramatic Egyptian cinema soundtracks that accompanied Oum Kalthoum and Asmahan, or the Rahbani Brother's lush orchestrations swathing Fairuz's voice, Hamdani uses a remarkably sparse takht (ensemble) of violin, ney flute, qanun (zither) and percussion. This gives well-loved songs a fresh suppleness that allows us to appreciate them anew. It's heresy to even whisper this, but you might even choose one or two of Hamdani's versions over the originals.