Mike's Oud Forums

The Famous Farid El Atrache Taqsim - Full Concert

Badra - 10-26-2020 at 10:39 PM

Today, people under 40 generally think of the Rabeeh and Awal Hamsa taqsims when they think of Farid, because they're on video on YoutTube getting millions of views. But before the Internet, there was one taqsim that was considered Farid's best and most famous. It was heard millions of times on radio, vinyl, cassette and CD. The thing is nobody knew which song/concert it was from. Luckily, the full concert recording did eventually emerge, and it was the underrated masterpiece Enaya Mahma Allou Annak.

Here you'll hear the full energy of the room, the warmup, and yes the taqsim after the short musical introduction. I fixed the speed, noise, EQ, etc. The oud sounds great and Farid's vocal performance is also amazing as usual.

https://youtu.be/RpACkPla_p0

ameer - 4-13-2021 at 04:08 AM

It's amazing how many different times / places the oud recording has been identified as over the years.

Jody Stecher - 4-13-2021 at 06:18 AM

I still have the 45 rpm disc with this taqsim on one side. I bought it in the mid 1960s and played it hundreds of times. It still plays! The change in speed you made is very slight but the performance sounds so different to me because the version on the old record is imprinted on my brain. In those days it was not unusual for records to be slightly sped up so I think it is likely that your restoration is accurate.
Thanks!

Badra - 7-2-2021 at 10:08 AM

Quote: Originally posted by ameer  
It's amazing how many different times / places the oud recording has been identified as over the years.


So true! We should have realized it's not Awal Hamsa just from the maqam.

As for the date and location, I have put 1963, Banha, Egypt. The reason is a friend gave me a radio recording from the 1960s, from Sawt El Arab, that stated this when introducing the taqsim before it played. This is the only broadcast evidence we have.

Some say it's Lebanon because of the dialect of some in the audience. We will never know for sure I guess. But the radio recording I have is the most compelling evidence.

Badra - 7-2-2021 at 10:14 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Jody Stecher  
I still have the 45 rpm disc with this taqsim on one side. I bought it in the mid 1960s and played it hundreds of times. It still plays! The change in speed you made is very slight but the performance sounds so different to me because the version on the old record is imprinted on my brain. In those days it was not unusual for records to be slightly sped up so I think it is likely that your restoration is accurate.
Thanks!


Thanks for the story. It really is an addictive taqsim and it never gets old. I can listen to it everyday. I had a sped up version on cassette when I was young. Then the CD version came out with clear sound and a more realistic speed, but later discovered it was slightly slow. In this video, I've adjusted the speed to 440 concert pitch. Given that there's an accordion in the orchestra, I feel confident about it.

Badra - 10-18-2021 at 11:40 AM

Here's another video tribute to this taqsim, this one with footage of Farid's reaction from a TV interview, probably early 70s.
https://youtu.be/Wihmz9eLTyE