What is there to get?

September 21, 2004 6:43 AM

Would non-arabic speaking people get anything out watching this performance? Could anyone clue me in on what is to be expected of those performers?
posted by Recockulous to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

Um, good music? I'm not sure whether you're asking about performance of any music in a language you don't understand (opera, for example) or about these guys in particular. I don't know them, but from a little googling (Hani Shaker [the "Shanker" appears to be a typo], Wael Kfoury, Alaa Zalzali, Bassem Feghali [the usual spelling]) I find that Shaker is Egyptian and Kfoury is Lebanese, so they're presumably your basic Eastern Mediterranean Arabic singers. If you check those Google results you can probably find audio samples, but in general if you've ever heard Arabic music you'll know what to expect. If not, you might want to check it out before shelling out for the show -- it sounds pretty weird to the Western ear, though it shouldn't take much exposure to get used to it.
posted by languagehat at 12:58 PM on September 21, 2004