Singing architect takes opera by storm

Egyptian mezzo-soprano Farrah el-Dibany made headlines when French Ambassador in Cairo Marc Baréty in an official ceremony awarded her his country’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier grade). Indeed, a good ‘knight’ was enjoyed by all.

Where did her career that culminated in this spiky Gallic gong begin?

“As a child I never dreamed of going on stage, but when I was 14 my music teacher discovered my voice,” el-Dibany said. “From then on, I had a burning ambition to perform before an audience.”

El-Dibany started to work professionally on her vocal skills with her teacher from school and later with German, Austrian and French sopranos.

“I come from a musical background and I studied ballet and piano,” el-Dibany told The Egyptian Mail.

Travelling to Germany to study opera was a dream come true.

“Before Berlin, I studied architecture in Alexandria as I was not prepared vocally for the auditions in Berlin, even though I had given many solo performances in Egypt,” el-Dibany recalled.

In 2010, she joined the Hanns-Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, marking the first genuine step on her career path to international fame.

“Joining the academy was a milestone in itself as it was very competitive,” she said.

El-Dibany was studying for two degrees — a master’s at the Berlin University of the Arts and a bachelor’s in architecture at Berlin’s Technische Universität — at the same time.

“This was very time-consuming. Architecture requires both mental and physical efforts. My family was very supportive, unlike everyone else who said I wouldn’t be able to make it, but I obtained both my degrees on time, so there!” she said.

Next stop was Paris, which was no walk in the park as she had undergone surgery.

“The operation affected muscles important for singing. It took me six months to recover. I went back to singing a month after operation, but that was too soon. Definitely, I was under psychological pressure to fully regain my singing ability,” she said.

Iron-willed el-Dibany turned adversity into advantage. In the same year of her operation, she won the Prix Lyrique de l’AROP for best female opera singer from the Paris Opera House.

Language is not an obstacle.

“In opera, you don’t need to know the language. It is all about vocal line not the text. I am fluent in several languages including French and German. I sing in Russian and Czech. Sometimes, I am trained in pronunciation,” she said.

She was the youngest Egyptian to receive the Order of the Arts and the Letters.

It was established in 1957 by the French Ministry of Culture and is granted to distinguished personalities who contribute to the prosperity of arts and literature in France and the world through their creativity in the artistic or literary field.

“I did not expect it. When I received the letter, I kept reading it several times. I was over the moon,” she said.

What makes el-Dibany really happy is when the audience say that one’s name reflects who one is and what one does. In Arabic ‘farrah’ means happiness.

“I am touched when people tell me I am Farrah and I make them happy,” she added.

Now, she is working on an album and preparing herself for concerts in Egypt and abroad.

“I just follow my passion. I always believe that things come to me at the right time even though this is not the time that was in my plan,” she said.