El Nour Fatma Said

• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Shéhérazade, M. 17:
• 1 Shéhérazade, M. 17: I. Asie 09:33
• 2 Shéhérazade, M. 17: II. La flûte enchantée 03:12
• 3 Shéhérazade, M. 17: III. L'indifférent 03:49
• Manuel de Falla (1876 - 1946):
• 4 Tus ojillos negros 04:20
• José Serrano (1873 - 1941):
• 5 La canción del olvido: No. 2, Canción de Marinela 02:05
• Fernando Obradors (1897 - 1945):
• 6 2 Cantares populares: No. 2, Del cabello más sutil 01:40
• Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869):
• 7 Zaïde, H. 107, Op. 19 04:05
• Philippe Gaubert (1879 - 1941):
• 8 Le repos en Égypte 03:25
• Federico Garcia Lorca (1898 - 1936): 13 Canciones españolas antiguas:
• 9 13 Canciones españolas antiguas: No. 1, Anda jaleo 02:12
• 10 13 Canciones españolas antiguas: No. 6, Sevillanas del siglo XVIII 02:37
• 11 13 Canciones españolas antiguas: No. 8, Nana de Sevilla 03:53
• Abd al-Rahīm (1924 - 1988):
• 12 Ana Bent El Sultan 02:23
• Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875):
• 13 Adieux de l'hôtesse arabe, WD 72 05:40
• Najib Hankash (1904 - 1977):
• 14 Aatini Al Naya Wa Ghanni 05:05
• Sayed Darwish (1892 - 1923):
• 15 El Helwa Di 03:39
• Elias Rahbani (b. 1938):
• 16 Sahar El Layali (Kan Enna Tahoun) 03:19
• Dawood Hosni (1870 - 1937):
• 17 Yamama Beida 03:53
• Total Runtime 01:04:50

Info for El Nour

The young Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, praised for the luminosity and rich colours of her voice, makes her recording debut for Warner Classics with El Nour. Her enticing and absorbing recital programme crosses cultures, combining art songs by French, Spanish and Egyptian composers with Egyptian folk songs and popular songs from the Middle East. As she explains, “‘El Nour’ in Arabic means ‘the light’, and this album sheds light on how music that has been interpreted many times can be perceived in a different light. The idea is to connect three cultures – Arabic, French and Spanish – and to show how much, despite cultural, geographical and historical differences, they have in common when it comes to music”.

Fatma Said, soprano
Malcolm Martineau, piano
Burcu Karadag, flute
Rafael Aguirre, guitar
Tim Allhoff, piano
Tamer Pinarbasi, zither
Henning Sieverts, double bass
Itamar Doari, percussion

Fatma Said
At the age of 14 Fatma Said embarked on a musical journey that would take her from her home in Cairo to the Academy of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and ultimately to the world’s most prestigious concert and opera stages. Fatma is an exclusive Warner Recording Artist and has won numerous awards including the Gramophone Classical Music Award, the BBC Music Magazine’s Vocal Award as well as Germany’s Opus Klassik.

Fatma took her first singing lessons in Cairo with soprano Neveen Allouba and later studied Opera Singing at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler with Professor Renate Faltin. Fatma subsequently was awarded a scholarship to study at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, becoming the first Egyptian soprano to perform on this iconic stage. In Milan she sang - among numerous other roles - Pamina in a new Peter Stein production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, after which Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung heralded, “The flawless, radiant Fatma Said as Pamina is a discovery.”

Fatma is thrilled to embark on an exciting 2024/25 season. Highlights include her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, and WDR Sinfonieorchester and she will ring in the New Year 2025 with a gala performance for the ZDF also marking her debut with Staatskapelle Dresden. Continuing her successful partnership with Malcom Martineau and Sabine Meyer, Fatma will perform as part of a trio at Wigmore Hall and Schloss Elmau, and present solo recitals at the Schubertiade festival in Austria and Casino Basel. A passionate Lied singer, Fatma eagerly anticipates the release of a German song album “Lieder” with Warner Classics in February 2025.

Recent highlights from previous seasons include acting as Artist in Residence at the Wiener Konzerthaus, touring her second album Kaleidoscope released on Warner Classics in 2022 and a dynamic residency with the Konzerthaus Berlin where she presented a range of colourful programs. She has also appeared on prestigious stages worldwide, including a gala concert at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo and two appearances at the annual Concert de Paris in 2020 and 2024.

Throughout the past years she has also appeared on the stages of Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Staatsoper Hamburg, Royal Opera House in Muscat, Wexford Opera in Ireland, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Berlin, Royal Albert Hall in London, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Pembroke Music Festival, Schubertiade Festival of Valdegovia, Lockenhaus Festival, Schumann Festival in Bonn, Mozart-Woche in Salzburg, Beethoven Festival in Bonn, and the Music Festival of Bad Kissingen amongst others.

Fatma’s operatic roles on stage include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Nannetta (Falstaff), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), and the role of L’Amour (Orphée et Eurydice) at the Teatro alla Scala among others. She sang Genovieffa (Suor Angelica) with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons in a concert performance and the main role Tharsis in the new production of Mozart’s T.H.A.M.O.S. during the Mozart-Woche Festival 2019 in Salzburg staged by Fura Dels Baus.

Fatma Said is a strong advocate for causes that are close to her heart: In September 2021, Fatma performed at Global Citizen Live – a worldwide 24-hour livestreamed charity event which sees artists from around the world campaign to end the hunger crisis, protect the planet and plan its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The artists lineup included musicians such as Elton John and Ed Sheeran. She represented Egypt on Human Right’s Day in 2014, 2017 and 2018 at the United Nations in Geneva as well as at the Luxor Temple and sang for children's right to education and dignity through music. In 2016, she received an honorary award from Egypt’s National Council for Women. In the same year she became the first Egyptian opera singer ever to be awarded the state’s Creativity Award, one of Egypt’s highest accolades, for her outstanding artistic achievement on an international level.

In 2023 Fatma received the Rafik Hariri Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington for her artistic excellence and in 2024 she was awarded the European Cultural Price in Luxembourg.

Fatma continues working with Professor Renate Faltin and has had distinguished professors and coaches, such as Julia Varady, Claar Ter Horst, Anita Keller, Wolfram Rieger and Tom Krause, who have strongly influenced her musical development and helped her hone her musical interpretation.

Fatma won several major singing competitions including the 8th Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition (Dublin, 2016), the 7th Leyla Gencer International Opera Competition (Istanbul, 2012), 2nd prize at the 16th International Robert Schumann Lied Competition (Zwickau, 2012) and the Grand Prix at the 1st Giulio Perotti International Opera Competition (Germany, 2011).

Booklet for El Nour