Umm Kulthum Essentials

Intricately weaving poetry, time-tested folk tales and contemporary politics, Umm Kulthum took Egyptian music to places it had never gone before. Her unmistakable contralto, passionate storytelling and virtuosic improvisations led her often hour-long, string-powered paeans to uncharted territory and renewed states of tarab (a feeling of musical ecstasy). Her sprawling performances of Arabic music staples such as “Enta Oumry” and “Alf Leila We Leila”, captured here live (and many remastered), made each song never sound the same twice—and are still given true reverence today.