Fatma Said - El Nour

2020 release

One could start simply by enjoying the voice of young soprano Fatma Said, a fresh yet textured thing that may bring the young Arleen Augér to mind, but that also offers well-controlled hints of the singer's native Egypt. Her Ravel Shéhérazade is relaxed and engrossing, with plenty of power (and an Arabic instrument in La flûte enchantée), and she brings in a variety of more unusual works, from songs by the playwright Federico García Lorca (he was a friend of Falla's, and the songs are in that vein) to lesser-heard works for voice and guitar.

The program as a whole takes up the theme of the Arab influence in European music, approaching it from various perspectives. There is an Egyptian piece in a Western mode, by composer Gamal Abdel-Rahim, and Said's final stroke is a brilliant one: she ends with four popular Egyptian songs, but she inflects them back in a creative Western direction with a mixture of Egyptian instruments and an improvising jazz combo in the accompaniment.

The relationship between European and Arabic music, Said suggests, is deep and ongoing, not a matter of exotic flavor but of a profound encounter. She has made a debut album that not only succeeds on its own terms but also suggests future paths that she and other artists may follow.

 AllMusic Review by James Manheim