On Friday, April 12, in the framework of the Weeks of Francophonie, (30 March-15 April) in Azerbaijan, a concert of classical Arabic music performed by the famous Moroccan pianist Marouane Benabdallah took place at the International Mugham Center, Eurasia Diary reports. 

The concert was organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Azerbaijan.

Among the guests were representatives of diplomatic missions, international organizations, as well as all classical music lovers. Entry was free.

The performed pieces started with ‘Introduction and Oriental Dance’ by Salvador Arnita, and included 7 pieces by Dia Succari (1938-2010, Syria) "La nuit du destin", Malik Aslanian (1915-2003, Iran) "Parvaneh (Butterfly)", Zad Moultaka (1967, Lebanon) "3 Mouwashahs", Fazil Say (1970, Turkey) "Black Earth", Salim Dada (1975, Algeria) "Zaydan Dance", Nabil Benabdeljalil (1972, Morocco) "Nocturne No.1", Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) "Africa, Fantasy op.89 (arr. M. Benabdallah)". 

Each composition was accompanied by a short introduction telling its story and meaning.

After a storm of applause and the public’s unwillingness to let the artist go, Marouane Benabdallah performed another encore song.

Marouane Benabdallah is a representative of the Arabic performing school of classical piano music.

It should be noted that behind the artist's performances on such scenes as the Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Music Academy and the Palace of Arts in Budapest, the Salle Corto in Paris, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, the Oriental Art Centrein Shanghai, the Teatro Communale di Bologna, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Maison Symphonique in Montreal, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Bombay, the Cairo Opera House, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and most recently at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, The Queen Elizabeth Hall in Antwerpen and the Konzerthaus in Berlin.

By Anastasia Lavrina