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Aleph, the Oriental pianist, maestro of fusion music, melding primarily flamenco, tango, and Oriental genres, performed at the Byblos Festival on August 8, 2023, leading his orchestra in front of an ecstatic crowd. He granted an exclusive interview to This is Beirut prior to his performance of “From Lebanon, an Anthem to the Entire World,” a concert he will be taking to major cities across the globe. What were the highlights of Aleph’s performance with his orchestra? Who were the international artists who accompanied him on stage? What did he reveal to This is Beirut?
An Euphoric Performance, Unique and Revisited Songs of Zaki Nassif
Aleph takes to the podium like a seismic event, and a vast whirlwind fills the air with positive energy and euphoria, causing the chairs of the ancient theater to dance as though they were swept by a tidal wave, where music enthusiasts have gathered. In this stronghold, his native soil, more precisely in the majestic Roman theater of the world’s oldest city, he warmly greets his audience, saluting his close friends and family who have come especially for the occasion. In his welcoming address, he offers special thanks to those spectators, “who do not know him personally but who share with him a kindred connection and find resonance in his fusion music style,” Aleph wishes for everyone in attendance to escape daily stress and allow themselves to be carried away by the music, to dream. “Intoxicate yourselves” with music, he seems to say, life is a dream of a summer’s night! “Never Again” is the title of a piece that Aleph composed, appalled by life’s atrocities, the abuses and crimes perpetrated against children; he wanted to respond in his way, but especially in memory of the victims of the apocalyptic explosion of August 4. He is joined by Mexican dancer Karen Lugo, whose choreography intertwines tango, Oriental, and flamenco, in perfect harmony with Aleph’s musical amalgamation. Clad in red, with a matching fan and fiery lighting, her performance embodies the will and passion to live again, to rise and rebuild, in line with Aleph’s artistic message which is a perpetual celebration of joy and life. Antonio Serrano, the brilliant Spanish harmonica player, winner of the Latin Grammy Award, who collaborated with Placido Domingo, elevates the audience to new heights. Yelsy Heredia, the famous Cuban double bassist, reignites the crowd with his uncommon talent and customary striking humor. From beginning to end, Aleph engages the audience, establishes a dialogue, and “creates connections, tames” even the most reluctant, the least extroverted. He introduces the artists, namely the illustrious percussionist Bandolero, the renowned Romanian guitarist Vally, and the grand Lebanese musicians Jihad Assad on the qanun, Raed on the flute, Chadi Saad on the accordion, Charlie Fadel on percussion, and Samir Afif on the derbake. Seated at his piano, Aleph plays, dances, sings, and speaks with indescribable grace. It seems as though the theater is simultaneously his home, his anchor, and his rhapsodic vessel setting sail toward new lands. The Lebanese songs he has revisited from Zaki Nassif’s repertoire send the audience into raptures. It seems only beauty can save the Lebanese.
An Impromptu Interview Before the Concert
You have just returned from a successful tour in Canada, with triumphant performances in Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Tonight, you are launching a show dedicated from Lebanon to the entire world. Why start from Byblos? Is it because it’s your city, the oldest in the world, and it gave the world the alphabet? A reality that resonates with your stage name Aleph and your desire to preserve our musical heritage in your own way?
Indeed, we have chosen this expressive title that befits Lebanon, particularly within the context of the Byblos festival, which possesses a unique charm in the distinctive setting of the seven-thousand-year-old ancient Lebanese city. There is another reason: to disseminate our Lebanese music and culture across the globe. After the musical tour conducted in various provinces of Canada, tonight we reproduce this spectacle in Lebanon and will carry it to different European capitals such as Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Geneva before presenting it in America.
A contract was signed with the Aznavour Foundation, initiated during the lifetime of the legend Charles Aznavour, to present his songs in Arabic this summer. You are the artistic director, pianist, and musical arranger of the project “Aznavour Revisited in Arabic” (Produced by your group 8e art in collaboration with Canadian production house Smart Production). Where are you in the execution of this project?
We are in the phase of arrangements, just prior to recording the songs in the studio. Once the songs are ready, we launch the musical album, followed by the preparation of a musical tour with the project “Aznavour Revisited in Arabic.” It will be Aznavour, but in an orientalized language and version.
There are four songs by the great Zaki Nassif that you are performing in this concert, in your musical style. Why has he particularly resonated with you?
I was four years old when I discovered the great Zaki Nassif on a television program. It had the effect of a true epiphany for me. Each time, I interpreted his songs, and now, after all these years, having never performed his compositions live, I have decided to revisit them in flamenco fusion. I am truly delighted to present them in the context of this concert.
Singer Dia, your wife, who often accompanies you in your performances, is not present tonight.
Indeed, Dia, renowned for her lyrical songs, is frequently a guest at my concerts, at our festivals as Eighth Art. We are presenting this concert in the same format as the one presented in Canada; therefore, she will not be present. Likewise, she favors French in the Oriental fusion style, which regrettably does not feature in our program tonight, oriented towards Algerian, Egyptian, and Lebanese music.
Aleph’s Beginnings: A Brief Overview
Aleph was born in Ehmej, Lebanon. His introduction to music came at the age of three when he was given a small, old wooden piano. By reconstructing familiar tunes at a tender age, he managed to grasp Western melodies, while Eastern tunes remained elusive. He persevered and ultimately discovered what he had been missing: the “quarter tone,” a fundamental aspect of Eastern music. Recognizing his potential, his parents eventually acquired his first authentic piano.
Enthralled by sounds, Aleph aspired to articulate Eastern melodies through a Western instrument, the piano, without pretense or subterfuge. During the Lebanese civil war, Aleph and his family left their native town for the mountains in search of tranquility. Aleph devoted his time to his uncle Michael Ramia’s studio, a composer proficient in over eight instruments, who exerted a substantial influence on him. His days were consumed by practice and performance, becoming the primary entertainment at all family gatherings, often performing alongside his cousin Carla Ramia.
By the age of 11, Aleph started composing his own music. He graduated in 1999 from Collège Saint Joseph Antoura. To further hone his technique, he enrolled at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), where he studied piano theory and harmony. Aleph graduated as the top student in music theory from Kaslik, and in Musical Hearing and Harmony from the Kharkiv Conservatory. Although largely self-taught, Aleph acknowledges that his “academic detours” endowed his art with the requisite classical and technical foundations. At the age of 8, he performed a song by Umm Kulthum on Music Day, and at 10, he played with a Tunisian orchestra at the Byblos Citadel. At 11, he made numerous appearances at USEK, where he had to perform pieces for his classical program, seizing the opportunity to also present his original compositions. At 14, he gave his first solo concert, playing Chopin’s Mazurkas in his unique arrangement, and at 18, he staged a concert at the Collège Saint Joseph Antoura’s theater, performing his self-composed pieces. At the age of 18, a friend introduced him to Elef Productions, a former label of the Warner Music group.
