Excerpt of Houwa Sahih el Hawa Ghallab, Rabat, March 12, 1968

Despite her advanced age (around 70), Oum Kalsoum was in a great mood that evening of March 12 1968 in Rabat, Morocco.
This song is Houwa Sahih el hawa Ghallab (It's true that love conquers), first performed at the end of 1960, and it was the last collaboration between Oum Kalsoum and the composer Zakariyya Ahmad. The song is typical Zakariyya's style in composing, such as it gives the singer plenty of opportunuties to improvise. In this performance, Oum Kalsoum made over 45 variations on a single verse: "Just a glance, which I considered a greeting, but it was so furtive, was it carrying promises, vows, separation and pain?" but she focused mostly on the first part (until furtive). The impro extends over 30 minm but unfortunately this is the longest excerpt available on youtube. What I would like to draw your attention to was her emphasis on the letter "n" in "nazra" (glance), which could evoke confusion over the intention behind the glance, desire to extend the glance, and flirting with the eyes....notice also her treatments of the word "salam" (greeting) and "awam" (furtive) which evoke her disappointment through the extension and breaking of the syllable "aaaaaaaaaa". Also, enjoy the dynamics of her relationship with the audience; how she excited them and how in turn, their excitment ovation fed her imagination. Just for the record, this part is edited on the video as there are at least 5 min missing between the audience long ovation and the part that follows. beautiful impros are missing