Sabah Fakhri

The Masterpieces - Live in Concert

• Khamret Al Hob (Drunk In Love)
• Ala Al Yamma
• Ala Al Akeek (In the Valley) + Be Kalbi Hasra Wnzara (There is Pity In My Heart)
• Ya Rab (Oh, God)
• Ya Hwedlak
• Mani Ya Habeeb (It's Not, My Love)

• Kol Lel Maleeha (Tell the Pretty One)
• Ebtali Jawab (Send Me a Letter)
• Khamret Al Hob (Drunk In Love)

Location Issued

Artist Origin

More Info

This album, recorded with rough sound quality at a Sabah Fakhri concert in Aleppo, presents a collection of his classics. The first side opens with “Khamret Al Hob” (Drunk In Love), a favorite among Sabah Fakhri’s Aleppine audience. This is followed by a set of his well-known songs, starting with “Ala Al Yamma”, then “Ala Al Akeek” and “Be Kalbi Hasra Wnzara”, a group of light, joyful songs that encourage the waists to dance. The second side of the album starts with a rare recording of “Kol Lel Maleeha” (Tell the Pretty One), beginning with a minimal prelude instead of the qanun introduction that usually precedes the song in Sabah Fakhri's performances. The song is cut midway to make room for an introduction of an Islamic call to prayer and a supplication. The song is followed, as usual, by “Ebtali Jawab” (Send Me a Letter), creating a clear shift in both momentum and mood between a pious religious song and an emotive, uninhibited one.
Born 1933 in Aleppo under the name Sabah al-Din Abu Qaws, Syrian tenor Sabah Fakhri achieved worldwide fame and introduced the world to the traditional Arabic music of Qudud and muwashahat with a career spanning over 50 years. He passed away in Damascus on November, 2021 at the age of 88.