Ziad Rahbani ( ar, زياد الرحباني, born 1956) is a Lebanese
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
,
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
,
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, and
political commentator
A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport).
Origins
The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...
. He is the son of
Fairouz
Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...
, one of Lebanon and the Arab world's most famous singers, and
Assi Rahbani
Assi Rahbani ( ar, عاصي الرحباني; May 4, 1923 – June 21, 1986) was a Lebanese composer, musician, and producer. He was part of the Rahbani Brothers ( ar, links=no, الأخوان رحباني), with his brother Mansour Rahbani. ...
, one of the founders of modern Arab music.
His compositions are well known throughout the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. He became by far the most influential Lebanese artist during the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. Many of his musicals satirize Lebanese politics both during and after the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
, and are often strongly critical of the traditional political establishment.
Personal life
Ziad Rahbani is the son of the Lebanese composer
Assi Rahbani
Assi Rahbani ( ar, عاصي الرحباني; May 4, 1923 – June 21, 1986) was a Lebanese composer, musician, and producer. He was part of the Rahbani Brothers ( ar, links=no, الأخوان رحباني), with his brother Mansour Rahbani. ...
and
Nouhad Haddad
Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...
, the Lebanese female singer known as
Fairuz
Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...
.
Rahbani was married to Dalal Karam, with whom he has a boy named "Assi" but he was later found out not to be his biological son. Their relationship later ended in divorce, prompting Karam to write a series of articles for the gossip magazine ''Ashabaka'' about their marriage. Rahbani composed a number of songs about their relationship, including "Marba el Dalal" and "Bisaraha".
On Friday April 3, 2009, the Lebanese press reported that Rahbani filed a lawsuit with the Lebanese courts, asking to disown his son, Assi Rahbani Jr., and stripping him of the Rahbani name on all official records, and voiding any legal obligation towards him as a father, after DNA tests proved that Assi Jr. is not his son. Rahbani has also had a well-publicized relationship with actress
Carmen Lebbos
Carmen Lebbos ( ar, كارمن لبّس; born 22 February 1963) is a Lebanese theater, television, and film actress who has worked in film, television actress. Lebbos has been active since 1981; she has been in several television series and movi ...
, which lasted for 15 years before the couple agreed to separate.
Rahbani has a long-standing relationship with Lebanese leftist movements, and is a self-declared
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. Furthermore, in an interview with the journalist Ghassan Bin-Jiddu, Rahbani stated that the
bloodbath massacres in the Palestinian camp Tall a-Za’tar by extreme-rightist Christian militias in 1976 was the main reason that drove him to leave to West Beirut. Notwithstanding, he also expressed his support to the Lebanese resistance and its project in the face of "the Israeli occupation and its Zionist Apartheid regime". Coming from a Christian family, his politics and viewpoints have meant that he has been at odds with some of his right teenage surroundings. During the Lebanese civil war, Rahbani resided in the religiously mixed, West Beirut suburbs.
Career
Rahbani's first known artistic work was "Sadiqi Allah" (My Friend God), a collection of writings between the years 1967 and 1968 when he was in his teens. In 1973, at age 17, Rahbani composed his first music for Fairuz, his mother. Assi Rahbani, his father, was hospitalized and his mother Fairuz was to play the leading role in ''Al Mahatta'' by the
Rahbani brothers
The Rahbani brothers (Arabic: الأخوان رحباني), Assi Rahbani (4 May 1923 – 21 June 1986) and Mansour Rahbani (1925 – 13 January 2009) were Lebanese sibling musicians, composers, songwriters, authors, and playwrights/dramatists, be ...
.
Mansour Rahbani
Mansour Rahbani ( ar, منصور الرحباني, Manṣūr Al-Raḥbāni; 17 March 1925 – 13 January 2009) was a Lebanese composer, musician, poet, philosopher, thinker and producer, known as one of the Rahbani brothers, and the b ...
, his uncle, who had written the lyrics of a song about Assi Rahbani's forced absence, gave Ziad Rahbani the task of composing its music. The song "Saalouni El Nass" (People Asked Me) gained Rahbani recognition in the music world.
Career
Rahbani appeared for the first time on stage in ''Al Mahatta'' where he played the role of the detective. He also appeared later on in the Rahbani Brothers' ''Mays el Rim'' in the role of one of the policemen. Rahbani's first step into theatre was with the Bkennaya Theater in ''Sahriyyeh''. He followed that with highly politicized string of plays.
As an actor, besides appearing in his own plays, Rahbani starred in
Randa Chahal Sabbagh's 2003 film
The Kite.
Collaborations
Before, during and after the war, Rahbani released and co-released several albums like: ''Bi hal shakel'', ''Abou Ali'', ''Halleluja'', ''Shareet Ghayr Houdoudi'', ''Houdou Nesbi'', ''Ana Mouch Kafer'', ''Hakaya al Atfal'', ''Bema Enno'', ''Monodose'' (with singer Salma Mosfi) and ''Maaloumat Mush Akidi'' (with singer
Latifa
Latifa or Lateefa is a feminine Arabic (لٓطِيفٓة) given name which means "gentle" or "pleasant". It corresponds to the masculine Latif.
Notable persons Lateefa
* Lateefa Al Gaood, Bahraini politician
* Lateefah Simon, American activist
...
).
He has also written the music for singles performed by others such as "Rafi2i Sobhi El Gizz", "Kifak Inta", "Iza baddik" "Abban 3an Jidd".
He has done some orchestrations for songs like "Madih el Zoll el Ali", "Ahmad el Zaatar" and "Moussakafoun noun". Rahbani has also mixed several albums such as ''Al ra2i el 3aam'' and ''Moussakafoun noun''.
He has held concerts like the Oriental Jazz Concert in the BUC Irwin Hall, the Las Salinas Concert, the Forum de Beirut Concert, the Picadilly Concert, and "Mniha Concert" in Mont La Salle Ain Saadeh, the latter with his cousin Ghassan Rahbani.
He also performs live occasionally in pubs like "Medusa", "Mon Général" and the "Téatro".
Discography
Studio Releases
Albums for Fairuz
Stage & Radio
Notes
References
External links
*
A compilation of press articles and interviews with Ziad Rahbani, in arabicCriticism on Ziad Rahbani, Fairouz, and Assi Rahbani's ArtFairuzFan - contains information of Ziad's works with Fairuz his mother
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahbani, Ziad
1956 births
Living people
Lebanese actors
Lebanese left-wing activists
20th-century Lebanese male singers
Lebanese songwriters
Lebanese composers
Lebanese jazz musicians
Male jazz musicians
21st-century Lebanese male singers