I just wanted to thank the admins for including a profile of Mohammad el-Qassabji among the articles on this website. As I've been teaching myself
about the Oud, I've also been looking at other Arabic music and was, quite naturally, led to videos and recordings of Um Kulthum and I wondered about
the gaunt-looking man with the incredibly thick spectacles in her orchestra who appeared to play the oud with such incredible ease, almost as if it
were an extension of his body. Then, in later videos of her performances, I wondered about the empty chair behind her where the oud player would have
sat. Now I know the answer.
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