Zeina Barhoum gives us opera with an Arabian twist

Zeina Barhoum, AKA iThe Arabic Soprano, hopes to bridge cultures with her debut album Alcantara.

Zeina Barhoum launches her debut album with a concert at the Madinat Theatre in Dubai on Saturday. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

Zeina Barhoum is popularly known as “The Arabic Soprano”. But who cooked up the nickname? “I think I did,” she admits. “I wanted it so badly. I thought to myself, if we’re not necessarily geographically united as an Arab world, I’d like to do that through music.”

It’s a noble goal – and a fitting moniker. An opera singer who was trained by some of the world’s greats, Barhoum stands out from the crowd by subtly mixing traditional western opera with uniquely Arabic influences and inflections.

It's an approach that was well demonstrated on her debut album, Alcantara, which will be launched with a live concert in Dubai on Saturday. Symbolically, the title is a Mediterranean reading of the Arabic word for "bridge".

“I wanted a word that was Arabic, but also in the English dictionary,” says Barhoum, who is a Jordanian of Palestinian origin. “As an artist I always wanted to do something that reflected my background, my culture, my identity – I wanted to make a difference through my voice and my music.”

Recorded alongside the Amman Symphony Orchestra, the music on Alcantara includes classic Italian arias – such as Là ci Darem la Mano, from Mozart's Don Giovanni, and Sempre libera, from Verdi's La Traviata – and popular Napoleonian staples such as Funiculì, Funiculà and O Sole Mio (yes, the one from the famous UK TV advert for Cornetto ice cream cones).

So far, so familiar – the twist is the way the arrangements subtly incorporate smatterings of Arabic instrumentation, such as the kanoun, while Barhoum has freshly translated many of those famous verses into Arabic herself.

“I wanted to pick music that people knew, but re-imagined in some way,” says the 31-year-old. “But a subtle way – there’s a lot of Arabic fusion out there. I didn’t want to do anything that might one day be seen as kitsch, I wanted to make an album that would sound timeless.”

Three tracks break the mould: Lamma, a traditional Andalusian composition dating from the 12th century, which was adapted to sound "more classical"; Ftani Os Edo, an original composition written in Greek specially for the project; and an Arabic version of what might be the French language's best-known song, La Vie en Rose.

“No one’s done that before,” says Barhoum. “It’s a very special piece to me, and I wanted to do something very special.”

The album’s release closes a circle that was opened nearly two decades ago when, at the age of 12, Barhoum was set on her path after a music teacher identified her potential as an opera singer.

“It left a huge impact on me, it was the main push,” she says. “Since then, I’ve always known that one day I wanted to have an album.”

Growing up in Jordan, with time spent living in the UAE and the United States, Barhoum began performing regularly, singing in a range of musical styles, from musicals to jazz and pop.

She also studied dance extensively – ballet, tap, flamenco – and tried her hand at acting in school plays.

“I was very shy at that time, an introvert, and performing helped me to overcome my shyness,” she says. “I felt I was a natural on the stage – it never felt like anything I didn’t love.”

After leaving school she moved to the UAE for six years, first to study visual communication at the American University of Sharjah, before starting her own branding design firm. She also found time to host solo art exhibitions, and launched a jewellery line.

But she never lost her passion for music. “I just felt this was my calling, I always had this goal,” she says.

No longer lacking in confidence, at 22 Barhoum applied for a spot at Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, one of the oldest and most esteemed music schools in the world. After a nervy audition in front of renowned soprano and opera director Renata Scotto, Barhoum was tutored by the likes of Alberta Valentini and Walter Alberti, splitting her time between Italy and Jordan during her five years of study.

The reward for all of those efforts comes with the release of her debut album, which was launched in Jordan in November. Saturday’s concert marks the album’s international release across the Arabian Gulf.

It doesn’t stop there. This summer, Barhoum will travel to Rome for the European launch, driven by a heartfelt passion to share the album’s musical fusions with the world.

“I’ve always believed that every artist or person, if you’re given a gift, you’re given it for a reason, and it really should be [used] for that purpose or message,” she says. “And even though it’s very difficult to change the world ... it’s nice to think that you could.”

• Zeina Barhoum performs at Madinat Theatre, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai on Saturday at 8pm. Tickets from Dh200. Visit madinatjumeirah.etixdubai.com for more details