Ibrahim Maalouf: a triumphant tour

Ibrahim Maalouf is never where we expect him. Choir leader, conductor and of course instrumentalist but also storyteller. As soon as he enters the stage, he likes to narrate whole sections of his life, just like the story of his latest album, which he opened to his family. From his grandfather, who invented the four-piston trumpet, to his son, who blew this instrument for the first time at 3 years old.

On stage again, he asks the audience to sing in unison, and to jump in rhythm as if he were the energy teacher. Hop! Here is a digression on a trumpet from his own brand, TOMA, which allows the quarter tone. Then a speech on the history of brass bands in Lebanon during the French mandate…

Extraordinary melodies

The public is delighted. Even in Biarritz, at the Gare du Midi, where we saw him, he managed to brighten up a somewhat “silly” room, using all the strings of his bow. His charisma and warm smile, his spontaneity: « Is there a Lebanese in the room? » And since no one responds: “So, trumpeters? » Five people raise their hands. A laugh, two quips, a pirouette, and the audience is in his pocket. Finally, and above all, there are its extraordinary melodies that catch and intoxicate.

In the tradition of classical musicians, Maalouf composes infinite variations on leitmotifs performed at different tempi so that they engrave our hearts. The magic works all the more as his technique and virtuosity allow him to play his trumpet like a lyric singer with his voice. No surprise that the concert and his latest album are titled Michelangelo's Trumpets . All creation unfolds in his music, as in the Master's painting in the Sistine Chapel. We then know why his 200 annual concerts are sold out.

Label Mister Ibé, concerts on December 6 and 7 in Paristhe 12th in Barcelona, ​​the 13th in Dole, the 14th in Meisenthal, the 17th in Mondorf-les-bains, the 18th in Seraing, the 19th in Antwerp…