Om Kalthoum - Anta Omry 1964

Oum Kalthoum - inta Umri (Enta Omri) (You Are My Life)live 64  1 january
Lyrics: Ahmad Shafiq Kamel. Music: Mohammad Abdul Wahab



About the Artist
Also known as 'The Star of the East', Om Kalthoum (Om Kolthoum, Om Kalthum, Um Kalthum, Om Kalsoum, Um Kaslum) is considered to be the best and most influential Arab singer who ever lived, and one of the most popular singers in the history of music. She was born in Egypt in 1908, and died there in 1975 after a very productive life in which she sang over 400 songs. Her songs are still heard with the same reverence as when she was alive. Her audience still hums along or cries in reaction to the passion she evokes and the wide range of pitch with which she sings. One reviewer mentioned that her following totals that of Elvis Presly and Maria Callas combined. Over 1 million of her albums are sold every year. Her songs were composed by the most prominent Arab composers such as Zakariyya Ahmad, Mohammad al-Qasabji, Riad el-Sounbati, Mohammad Abdul Wahab, Mohammad el-Mougi and Baligh Hamdi.

Oum Kalsoum - Ifrah Ya Qalbi

Variant spellings:
Om Kalsoum, Oum Kaltsoum, Umm Kulthum Oum Koulsoum etc...


The Star of the East
The Diva of Arabic Song

"During the 1950s and 1960s Umm Kulthum expanded her role in Egyptian public life. She granted more interviews during which she spoke about her life, repeatedly identifying herself as a villager, a fallahah or peasant, who shared a cultural background and essential values with the majority of the Egyptian populace. Her interviews were full of stories of her family, her neighbors, and the familial qualities of village life.

She cultivated the position of spokeswoman for various causes. She advocated governmental support of Arabic music and musicians, she endowed a charitable foundation and, most importantly, after the Egyptian defeat in the 1967 war, she began a series of domestic and international concerts for Egypt. She travelled throughout Egypt and the Arab world, collecting contributions and donating the proceeds of her performances to the government of Egypt. These concerts were much publicized and took on the character of state visits. Umm Kulthum was entertained by heads of state, she toured cultural monuments, and, in interviews, repeated her views concerning the importance of support for indigenous Arab culture. More than a musician, she became 'the voice and face of Egypt'."