The Royal Opera House will this week present Muwashahat & Kudud Halabiya, a special programme of classical Arab music. Muwashahat is an Arab poetic form originating in Aleppo and Andalusia, as well as a genre of secular music. The closely related kudud halabiya is a form of Syrian classical music found in poetic form and is also a secular music genre. Accompanied by an ensemble of nineteen musicians, the star of the show is Badr Rami, a Moroccan-born Syrian artist beautifully versed in both classical and contemporary Arab music. Rami began his career in the late 1990's, quickly developing an original and authentic style that is making a name for him in the contemporary Arab music scene.
Badr Rami is a disciple and spiritual son of Sabah Fakhri, the renowned singer from Aleppo who modified and popularised traditional muwashahat and kudud halabiya when these genres were fading. He is celebrated for charismatic performances with exceptionally strong vocals, impeccable execution of maqamat (rhymed prose alternating with rhetorical poetry) and traditional iqaat (rhythms). Especially admired for excellence in performance of authentic Arab tarab (singing that induces ecstatic responses), Sabah Fakhri received the Order of Oman from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in the year 2000.
The Muwashahat and Kudud Halabiya concert with Badr Rami will take place at the Royal Opera House Muscat on Saturday, 7th April, 2018 at 7:30 pm.