Baligh Hamdi

Baligh Hamdi was not yet thirty when Umm Kulthum, then past sixty, gambled on him with "Hobb Eih" (1960) — and won a new youth. The Cairo-born composer, already a rising force in Egyptian song, brought her the sound of the 1960s street: melodies rooted in Egyptian folk idiom, forward-driving dance rhythms, and catchy instrumental refrains that framed her voice like a modern hit record. Their partnership produced "Ansak" (1961), "Sirat el Hobb" (1964), "Fat el Maad" (1967) and finally "Alf Leila wa Leila" (1969), whose orchestral prelude became one of the most recognizable openings in Arabic music. Beloved also for his work with Abdel Halim Hafez, Warda and Shadia, Hamdi renewed her audience without diluting her authority. His signature is the folk-rooted tune of instant memorability, dressed in a modern arranger's colors — proof that the most venerated classical voice in the Arab world could still command the radio charts. He died in 1993.