Mete Tasin Sings "Lamma Badda Yatathanna" Live in Concert

Dr. Ramzi Salti (left) introduces Tenor Mate Tasin 

Turkish Opera singer Mete Tasin, whose repertoire has long included songs in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Persian, and Turkish, recently debuted an amazing rendition of the song "Lamma Bada Yatathanna" لما بدا يتثنى  in Arabic.  The song was introduced by Stanford Lecturer Dr. Ramzi Salti during Mete's concert at Angelica's in Redwood City on Saturday April 28, 2018 and left the audience cheering for more.  You can watch Mete's performance below or at https://youtu.be/owP7nqpVMyM

Lamma Bada Yatathanna is an ancient muwashshah, a genre of secular music from Al Andalus, Moorish Spain, which means it’s from some time before 1492. Here are the lyrics in Arabic and in English translation:

لما بدا يتثـنى *** حبي جمـاله فتنــا
أوما بلحظه أسرنا *** غصن سـنا حين مال
وعدي ويا حيرتى *** من لي رحيم شكوتي
في الحب من لوعتي ***إلا مليـك الجمــال

When my beloved begins to sway,
His/her beauty drives me to distraction
When I am enraptured by a glimpse,
My beloved’s beauty is a tender branch caught by the breeze;
Oh my destiny, my perplexity,
No one can comfort me in my misery,
In my lamenting and suffering for love,
But for the one in the beautiful mirage

Mete Tasin is a compelling and versatile opera singer who was born in Germany and raised in Turkey. He studied with Prof. Guzin GUREL at Istanbul University State Conservatory and Patricia McCaffrey at Brooklyn College (Master of Music). His career began in Minnesota, USA with Carmen ( Don Jose ) and Lucia di Lammermoor ( Arturo ). Mete has been in many leading roles in Europe, United States and Turkey.

For more info about Mete, see http://www.metetasin.com/