It is quite something, what Sami Yusuf brings to the stage: his own backing group of seasoned professionals, the heavenly voices of Cappella Amsterdam and the traditional Mediterranean sounds of the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. Together they provide a sound experience that moves from calm ponds with a splashing fountain, to dry steppe wind, wild waves and overwhelming mountains. A film could easily be made in which the music of Sami Yusuf plays the leading role.

On June 6, in a packed Concertgebouw, Yusuf's latest work finally premiered live, after it had previously been limited to a single recording in 2020 due to Corona, made by all the musicians in the isolation of their own studio. That recording, still deeply moving, has now been viewed more than half a million times. Of those hundreds of thousands of viewers, many hundreds came to Amsterdam to experience it for real. The Holland Festival received reservations from at least 45 countries, such is the fame of this British composer and singer, with roots in Azerbaijan.

From headscarves to heavily painted influencers, from old to young and in quite a few colours of the rainbow, the public space of the Concertgebouw looked like a celebration of cultural fraternity, exactly as the title of Yusuf's new work states: When Paths Meet.

Connection

It was all connection and love, religion with God and Allah at the same time: Sufism at its best, so there were also links in the music with Chinese meditation. Yusuf draws his inspiration from all the countries around the Mediterranean and further east. That is why I recognized – looking for reference points, just name a commonplace – an acoustic Vangelis , an oriental Carmina Burana and Arabic flamenco . So then we are talking about world music at its best.

It is also music that will blow you away with polyphonic choirs, virtuoso percussion and the power of the monophonic melody held by many instruments at the same time. A warm bath, that at times brought the audience into raptures.

We certainly need that in these confusing times.

Source