|
On 3 February 1975, exactly 25 years ago today, an extraordinary woman, Umm Kulthoum -- or simply Al-Sitt (the Lady), as she was called -- passed away. Today, we tell her amazing, incomparable story, in an attempt to understand why, 25 years later, it's as if she had never left us. The story of this absence, so intangible and yet so vital, is told here through interviews with those who were closest to her, a visit to the small village where she was born and raised, and an examination of the many ways in which her legend has not only lived on, but become stronger. Umm Kulthoum's voice is only one part of this glorious story. It is her entire being that still fills everyone's heart |
|
The
singer not the song By Maurice Guindi |
 Blurred
flash-backYoussef Rakha discovers Cairo's greatest music café
The
heritage of sound |
Bitter-sweet
rootsUmm Kulthoum was always very proud of her rural origins. Fatemah Farag, however, discovers that her small Delta village was untouched by her glory |
Contemplating
harmony
By Georges Bahgory
The
voice of authority Two
women bound by an affinity of spirit: Umm Kulthoum's biographer
speaks to Aziza Sami about her friend |
Waiting
for daylight Eleven
years ago, the Ministry of Culture gave the go-ahead to a project
for an Umm Kulthoum museum in the annex of the Manasterli Palace. Reham
El-Adawi follows up on progress |
Small
screen, big success The
television series Umm Kulthoum, broadcast in most Arab countries,
gave its audience a chance to rediscover a beloved legend. Hanan
Sabra goes behind the scenes |
Until
the very end
OK
Madame |
The
other Umm KulthoumWhy was the Umm Kulthoum TV series so popular? Youssef Rakha looks at seven writers' commentaries |
|
 |
Sabrine: Stars in her eyes Profile by Tarek Atia |
Epic
of a nation
For 40 years, Umm Kulthoum's Thursday-night concerts were as major a
national event as any in the Arab world. On this, the "alleged"
centenary of her birth, Youssef Rakha contemplates a phenomenon