Oum Kalsoum, an Egypt Queen in Paris
Olympia never watched so late.What time is it exactly, that night in the fall of 1967?One in the morning, maybe two, but the public laughs at.Outside, the Paris of November can fall asleep and the metro close its gates, it is inside, in the room with red armchairs, that everything is played.From the orchestra to the balcony, the spectators are like bewitched, bewitched, ready to stay all night, all life, to listen to Oum KALSOUM.Already 2:30 am, and she is still there who sings, sings, sings, "the lady" of Cairo, pushing the deadline of lower curtain with an endless song, sixty-five minutes watch in hand.A few more flights, the lives of the crowd, and he will have to join his dressing room, then spin on his suite at the George-V hotel.
Oum Kalsoum in concert at the Olympia
Then comes the time to say if this concert, his only outside the Arab world, deserves his place in history.This wish, as we know today, has been granted.If a show abroad has marked the career of the Egyptian diva, it is this.Over time, he even enriched himself with tasty legends.Have we not claimed here and there that General de Gaulle had attended incognito there?Imagine for a moment "Le Grand Charles", hidden in the darkness of the music hall, dark glasses and sedage sealant, eyes riveted on the stage!The truth is less romantic, but it has many surprises in store ...
To reconstruct it, you must first go in the footsteps of Bruno Coquatrix, at the time director of Olympia.When he went to Cairo - in 1966 or early 1967, the versions diverge - it was above all to recruit a troop in anticipation of an international show organized in his room.His Egyptian host, the Minister of Culture, then took the opportunity to boast him of the merits of national glory, a certain Oum Kalsoum.If this name vaguely says something to the French visitor, it is slow to take the measure of the character."I thought she was a belly dancer," admits Bruno Coquatrix afterwards.
At 65 years old, this woman, however, is not a cabaret starlet.It is said to be modest, discreet about her private and deeply pious life.On stage, she is always dressed in a long dress, preferably Chanel.He often wears tinted glasses, to protect her sick eyes.In Egypt and in all Arab countries, it is an absolute icon whose concerts are broadcast once a month, on Thursday, on the radio.From Rabat to Damascus, in the cafes, the souks, the most remote villages, life stops, the people let themselves be lulled by the "honey voice" of El Sett ("the lady").
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