Cairo Opera House Commemorates El Abnudi and Jaheen at Alexandria Opera House

16 April 2024

To commemorate the two legendary Egyptian poets, Abdel Rahman El Abnudi and Salah Jaheen, the Cairo Opera House, under the supervision of Dr. Lamiaa Zayed, holds a concert by the Alexandria Opera Ensemble for Music and Arab Singing at Alexandria Opera House “Sayed Darwish Theatre” on Thursday, 18 April 2024 at 8 p.m. in which they
Conducted by Maestro Alaa Abdel Salam, the concert’s program includes a number of the most important songs in which these two giants collaborated with major composers transcending time and space and becoming an integral part of the Egyptian and Arab artistic heritage.
Abdel Rahman El Abnudi is one of the symbols of Egyptian colloquial poetry. Born in 1938, he was one of a generation of poets who wrote their work in the Egyptian dialect rather than in Classical Arabic, the standard literary language. His colloquial poems were sung by renowned Egyptian and Arab singers. He also co-wrote scripts for a number of Egyptian dramatic works. Among his most famous works is his epic poem, “Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyah,” which he recollected and edited. El Abnudi received the State Appreciation Award in 2001, becoming the first Egyptian colloquial poet to receive this prize, in addition to the Mahmoud Darwish Award for Arab Creativity in 2014. He passed away on 21 April 2015.
On the other hand, Salah Jaheen is one of the icons of Egyptian creativity. He was a poet, cartoonist, and screenwriter. Born in 1930, his genuinely philosophical yet simple words made him one of the most popular colloquial poets in modern Egypt. His fame began as a cartoonist in Rose Al Youssef magazine; a year later, he moved to the new magazine “Sabah El Khair” for which he became the editor-in-chief, then he joined Al Ahram. “The Quartets” is considered the peak of his artistic success which sold over 125,000 copies. Often known as the “poet of the revolution”, Jaheen wrote the lyrics of several patriotic and nationalistic songs. He also wrote many plays for the puppet theatre including the operetta “El Leila El Kebira” in addition to a number of important cinematic works. Jaheen passed away on 21 April 1986, leaving behind hundreds of songs, poems, and cartoons.