Hilmi-Gaddedi ya nafsi hazzek (the Zonophone version)

[fredlag@noos.fr]

After the Odeon and the Baidaphon recordings of dor Gaddedi ya nafsi hazzek, this is the third rendition on the forum by Abd al-Hayy Hilmi. Magnificent layali before the dor itself. I will comment later.
Recorded Feb-March 1906 by Gramophone Co. engineer Fred Gaisberg in Cairo.

The "sada" version is too fast, the filtered version has been slowed down.

[Hattouma]

Thanks Fred and welcome :) until i get a chance to listen , just liked to share something about Mr Gaisberg :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Gaisberg

[fredlag@noos.fr]

The way Hilmi plays on "man yalumni fe gharami" on side 2 epitomizes his aesthetics, as well as suspended stop '"el-gharam" at 4'30 (filtered file). I am always amazed at the perfection of the Zonophone recordings of Hilmi. Unlike Manyalawi, there's some material to throw away (ana 3aref enn ana bagaddef tagdif fazi3 wana ba2ul keda) in the dozens and dozens of sides Hilmi recorded between 1906 and his death in 1912, but the Zonophone series, which is the oldest or among the oldest, is simply breathtaking in terms of artistic quality (not technical, unfortunately). Although he hardly ever gives a dor more than 2 or 3 sides, those sped-up renditions capture the most refined essence of tarab, and prove it has nothing to do with "repetition".