Diana Takieddine

There is no doubt that we are counted poor in the fields of the arts; yet there remain among us talents that flash here and there, from time to time, to which we point with pride... Among them is the pianist Miss Diana, the only child of our man of letters Sheikh Said Takieddine, who on the 28th of April last, at the Dunya Cinema, gave a musical evening under the patronage of His Excellency the President of the Lebanese Republic and his wife — a concert that left the loveliest echoes in the souls of the listeners, and remained for a time the talk of refined circles.

Those who play the piano well in this country are not few; but rare among them is one who can match Diana Takieddine in this total harmony — soul and body — with the flow of the melodies, trembling now, now storming, now growing calm and questioning... Diana played from the masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, until it seems to you, as you strain your hearing toward her, that this owner of "the enchanting fingertips" could wipe the glooms from the folds of your soul, and persuade you that there is still in this world an abundance of happiness and deep joy, and that life is worth the living!

A blessing she is to us, Diana. And what takes you captive in her is this modesty and this simplicity — the two companions of genuine art; yet she reached this distinguished stage only as the fruit of continuous effort stretching over fourteen years, at the rate — then as now — of five or six hours of practice daily. And the devoted pupil acknowledges that her teacher, Madame Rio, has a great claim upon her gratitude...

For all her fame, Diana still belongs to those who hold the theory of "art for art's sake," and golden dreams and hopes play about her dark head, hopes that meet her upon the world stage of art; but Diana prefers not to run on in talk of these hopes...

Let her admirers, then, await the course of events — perhaps there are surprises on the way!!...