Marcel Khalifé returns to his first album, « Promesses de la tempeste », with a new recording expected on November 20, 2026 at Balcoon. Fifty years after the 1976 album, the Lebanese singer and oudist repeated four compositions on poems by Mahmoud Darwich. Bachar Mar-Khalifé is responsible for its production.
The project is subtitled « 50 years later ». It brings together « Rita », « Promesses de la tempest », « Oummi » and « Passport ». This selection brings the artist back to songs that accompanied the beginnings of his journey, while tightening the program around the Palestinian poet.
A new recording by Marcel Khalifé
Marcel Khalifé recorded the songs at the Hinterland Lab studio on 10, 11, 13 and 16 March 2026. François Baurin made the sound shots. The musician appears in the song and the oud.
The sound work continued in the spring, with a mastering by Alexis Bardinet and Lorenzo Bassaletti at Globe Audio. The record thus takes up an ancient repertoire in an interpretation recorded this year. It is not limited to recirculating historical bands.
The digital catalogue announces four beaches and a total duration of 30 minutes and 24 seconds. « Rita » opens the album, followed by the title track, « Oummi » and « Passport ». CD and vinyl editions accompany the digital release.
Four poems, from intimate to exile
These songs address separation through different situations. « Oummi », usually presented in French under the title « Ma mère », combines family memory with distance. The bond to the mother gives the feeling of exile a daily form, attached to gestures and memories.
« Rita » confronts love with political violence. The relationship between two people encounters a conflict that goes beyond their history. In « Passport », the question is about identity and borders. The administrative document becomes the starting point for a question about belonging.
The song « Promesses of the Storm » articulates the rejection and hope. Bringing these four texts together brings together several dimensions of Darwich’s poetry: attachment to loved ones, love, dispossession and the will to live. Their political significance remains linked to specific human experiences.
A program focused on Darwich
The comparison of editions shows a concrete difference. The record kept in the Paredon catalogue, dated 1983, includes five songs. He combines the four titles of Darwich with « Jaffra », on a text by Ezzedine Manasra. This last piece is not on the program announced for November.
The 2026 program consists exclusively of Darwich texts, all of which were put into music by the Lebanese composer.
The 50th anniversary refers to 1976, the year the label and the organizers hold for the birth of the album. The date of 1983 corresponds to the Paredon edition listed in the American catalogue. The two landmarks refer to different stages in his discographic history.
From the Parisian presentation to the release of November
The Institute of the Arab World had recorded this new album on the programme of a listening session on 27 September 2026 in Paris. The meeting announced the presence of Marcel Khalifé and an exchange moderated by Jean-Pierre Filiu on his relationship with Darwich. A preview sale and a signing session were also included.
The session was scheduled before the general commercialization announced by November 20th.
An extension on stage also appears in the official Trianon calendar. The Parisian hall announces Marcel Khalifé solo on February 8, 2027, around « Promesses de la tempeste », with his voice and his oud. The hall had a ticket office opening on 3 November 2026 at 10 a.m.
Cover: Marcel Khalifé at the Bizerte Festival, July 16, 2012. Photo archive, not representing the recording of 2026. Photo:Rais58 / Wikimedia Commons,CC BY 2.0. Boxing and dressing Libnanews.
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