Inspired by Italian and Levantine musical works from the time of Dante Alighieri, Dr. Nidaa Abou Mrad, Dean of the Faculty of Music and Musicology at Antonine University (Lebanon), proposes – as a world premiere, the 15th and 16th of September – a musicalization of excerpts from the Divine Comedy and of verses by Abū l-ʻAlā ‘al-Maʻarrī (973-1057), one of Dante’s inspirers. This Italian-Levantine spiritual lauda, focused on the guidance exercised by Beatrice on Dante in his initiatory journey from Hell to Purgatory and Paradise, is performed by the Medieval Music Ensemble of the Antonine University: Nidaa Abou Mrad, kemānšeh (Persian pike vielle, [an ancient fiddle]), medieval bow vielle and baroque orientalized violin; Rafka Rizk, vocals; Christo Almawi, vocals and ‘ūd (medieval lute); Ghassan Sahhab, qānūn (medieval zither).
Duration: 75 minutes, in Italian and Arabic.
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