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This Pick of the Week features the 2021 virtual performance of pianist Marouan Benabdallah, one of the foremost representatives of his native Morocco on the international stage. For years he has been developing repertoire that goes beyond the canonic works of the literature he has performed to great acclaim, to include music from the Middle East and north Africa. Benabdallah will perform some of the remarkable finds from his explorations, with music by composers from Syria, Algeria, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco on the program. These pieces are paired with his own solo piano arrangement of Saint-Saëns’ Africa, juxtaposing the exoticized European “Arabesque” with recent music by composers who offer their own take.
Presented in cooperation with the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division Near East Section, and with the generous support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
May 28, 2021
 Program
DIA SUCCARI
La Nuit du Destin
SALIM DADA
Miniatures Algériennes, excerpts
ZAD MOULTAKA
Two Muwashshahs
MOHAMMED FAIROUZ
El Male Rachamim, excerpts
NABIL BENABDELJALIL
Nocturne no. 1
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS / BENABDALLAH
Africa, op. 89
May 27, 2021
Pianist Marouan Benabdallah speaks with Kazem Abdullah and David Plylar of the Music Division about Benabdallah’s virtual program for Concerts from the Library of Congress. The discussion is focused on Benabdallah’s “Arabesque” project, and his program that includes pieces by Succari, Dada, Moultaka, Fairouz, Benabdeljalil and Saint-Saëns.
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