Lebanese chanteuse El Roumi will be first to perform at historic Qubba Palace in Cairo
Majida El Roumi will perform at the Qubba Palace in Cairo. The Lebanese singer will take to the stage of the historic 19th-century venue on Friday, April 2.
The show will mark the first public concert held at the lavish grounds since it was built in 1872. El Roumi announced the news on her Instagram account on Sunday with the message “And we meet again”.
The event will also mark the return of El Roumi to live performance, after her last major gig at the Abu Dhabi Festival last year.
With the pandemic scrapping her tour dates, El Roumi spent time in the studio, releasing two singles, Gha’no Bi Kel Lough’at (Sing In All Languages) and Love Letter to Lebanon.
The latter is a powerful spoken-word poem about her homeland’s rich heritage and tragedy. A collaboration with Vogue Arabia, the song is accompanied by a video of El Roumi strolling across various parts of Lebanon draped in the country’s flag.
“This land is flooded with tears, whoever can stop us from loving it,” she says, as part of the poem. “Treachery? Fear? War and hunger? Whoever can keep us away from its bosom?”
Although El Roumi’s career has spanned four decades, the project was the first time the enigmatic chanteuse has been photographed for a magazine cover. “I did not pose for any magazine cover for more than 45 years. It didn’t affect me,” she said in her interview with the publication.
“An artist’s prestige lies in making their fans long to see them perform. Recurrent appearances don’t serve the artist, but rather make their presence mundane, in a way that will not impact people.”
Built from 1867 to 1872, Qubba Palace was one of the most lavish constructions during Egypt’s Muhammad Ali dynasty. Located north of downtown Cairo, it served as the official residence of King Fuad I after his ascension to the Egyptian throne in 1917.
Spanning 300,000 square metres, the palace complex had its own train station for visiting dignitaries arriving from Cairo and Alexandria.
After the 1952 revolution in which Egypt became a republic, Qubba Palace was declared a presidential palace and is still used to host international leaders and other notable visitors, including Barack Obama, who received a red carpet reception in 2009 when he was US president. El Roumi’s historic concert at the venue will only serve to enhance her prestige as one of the Arab world’s most influential singers.
Majida El Roumi will perform at Qubba Palace in Cairo on Friday, April 2