The Casbah is an architectural marvel in the heart of Algiers, resulting from the creative genius of our ancestors. A medina located in the middle of the city, which seems to descend from the sky and flow peacefully along a steep relief to caress the sea. It gives off a scent of humanism, conviviality and encourages sharing and solidarity. It tells a story, the story of a thousand-year-old Algeria, it is also a part of the history of humanity and a universal heritage recognizable by its beauty and singularity. It is at the same time a place of art, culture and fervor. She has inspired poets, artists and artisans. She has exalted devotees and scholars throughout the centuries. An ode to this citadel with its labyrinthine streets overlooking the port and the bay of Algiers, and where Chaâbi, literally “Popular”, was born in the early 1920s, a musical genre which draws its roots from the Arab-Andalusian Noubas. This music, eminently scholarly and elitist, sung in literary Arabic, enlivened the royal courts and salons of the Maghreb aristocracy from the 20th century.
Chaâbi had as its great precursor masters Cheikh Nador, Hadj M’rizek and others, but above all the genius inventor El Anka. Nicknamed “The Cardinal”, he knew how to popularize and make accessible this music by freeing it from the quasi-sacred orchestral rigor of fixed interpretations, specific to classical music and by combining it with the texts of the great poets and authors of “Melhoun”, a kind of narrative and monotonous song, but with the poetic depth of dazzling beauty. Chaâbi then opened up to the influences of world music and was enriched with new sounds thanks to crossbreeding with music from around the Mediterranean. Sung in dialectal Arabic or Kabyle, his texts, such as the laments of Fado, Blues or Flamenco, describe to us the vicissitudes of everyday life, unhappiness and various frustrations, they speak to us of spirituality and meditation, tell us of exile and its sorrows, but also of joy and love of life, love of loved ones and others, and friendship.
CASBAH MON AMOUR is the musical show that tells the story of the Casbah. A metaphorical declaration of love to Algiers and to all the musicians who contributed to giving the Chaâbi style its nobility. A soundtrack mixing modernity & tradition with music from before independence in 1957 at the time of “well-kept” Algiers and hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The Sylvain-Leliévre auditorium, With the Dream team:Mohamed Abdenour alias Ptit Mohconductor (bonjo)Athmane Bendaoud actor narrator and animationHafid Djemai vocals and instrumentRéda Zaryab vocals and instrumentABDENOUR DJEMAI instrument bonjoTacfarinas Kichou percussionSamy Feddag piano, synthesizerDjalil Iron violinJalal Akalay animation lighting and scenographyAnd the entire technical team