The Joubran Trio. (Rights reserved)
The Baalbeck International Festival, constantly interrupted by the incessant conflicts in Lebanon, will once again take place at the Caracalla Dance Theater in Horsh Tabet. This theater, founded in 1968 by choreographer Abdel Halim Caracalla, is in fact an eminent extension of Baalbeck in Beirut.
Here, the vibrant spirit of the land that the Roman Empire nicknamed the "Granary of Rome" reigns supreme. Without columns, but with the best of Lebanese and Palestinian music, it is in this Baalbeck extension that "Awtar Baalbeck" ("The Chords of Baalbeck") will be performed, a concert scheduled for Thursday Aug. 29.
Against all odds, the trumpet ensemble of "Le Concile des faux dieux," an excerpt from Debussy's "Martyre de saint Sébastien," will sound for the 2024 season, inviting the audience to take their seats in the most solemn manner. With the dramatic, urgent effect of these familiar notes, which have become the festival's sonic identity, it'll be like being there. On the bill for this unique evening are the Charbel Rouhana sextet and the Trio Joubran, two of today's finest oud ensembles.
Lebanese musician Charbel Rouhana. (Credit: Nabil Ismail)
Ambitions scaled back, but 'we're still here'
“Initially, the idea was to celebrate the Trio Joubran's 20th anniversary with a major concert and orchestra. But when the war in Gaza broke out, we decided it would be wiser to change the formula. Initially, we thought we'd concentrate the concert in the more intimate setting of the Temple of Bacchus, with a small band featuring a Palestinian and a Lebanese group, as a message of dialogue, harmony, peace and hope. We then had to take the decision to relocate the concert, which ended up being a single, symbolic evening, to say that we're still here and that we're not giving up,” said Baalbeck Festival president Nayla de Freige.
A link for difficult times
To all those who, on social networks or elsewhere, have expressed their disappointment at seeing the Baalbeck Festival move to Beirut, musician Charbel Rouhana will respond with a song he plans to play at the concert. One of the verses reads, “Beirut and Baalbeck are sisters, and it's in difficult times that this bond is strongest.”
The oud virtuoso will play the first part of the concert for 45 minutes. He is due to be accompanied by oudist Elie Khoury, currently in France as are the musicians of the Trio Joubran, and whose presence is not yet known due to security circumstances. Rouhana will be accompanied by his sextet: In addition to Elie Khoury, Nadim Rouhana on accordion, Marc Abou Naoum on piano, Makram Abou al-Hosn on double bass, Zad Khalifeh and Elie Yammoune on percussion.
All the sounds of the Mediterranean
In the second half, Rouhana hands over the stage to the Joubran Trio. The three sons of luthier Hatem Joubran, representing a fourth generation of oud makers in Nazareth, Palestine, have been together since 2004.
That year, Wissam and Adnan joined their brother Samir, who was pursuing a solo career at the time and remains the group's leader. Committed to the dissemination of Palestinian culture, the Trio, which enjoys an international career, is today its unofficial ambassador.
These virtuosos, for whom the oud is not just a talent, but also a passion and a reason for living, are joining the Baalbeck Festival as part of a tour that has taken them this year from Oman to the Netherlands, via Germany and Switzerland.
Known for gleaning sounds wherever they go, the Joubran brothers, accompanied by the great percussionist Youssef Hbeish, launched into an improvisation one evening before a concert in Ramallah, with musician Valentin Mussou on synthesizer. The result was a remix of their song "La Longue Marche," "The Long March" remix, which we're looking forward to discovering at "The Chords of Baalbeck."
The final part of the evening will see the two groups join forces in an immense and intense musical dialogue in which the oud, a nomadic instrument that has carried all the sounds of the Mediterranean from port to port for centuries, will be the main star. There is a great moment of emotion in store.
“Strings of Baalbeck,” Caracalla Theater, Horsh Tabet, single evening, Thursday Aug. 29, 8.30 p.m.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.
