Castle of Ouds

"My name is Radwan Altaleb. I'm a musician. My instrument is oud. I'm from Syria. Music is my life, and my life is music." To Radwan Altaleb, now living in Canada, the oud is more than a musical instrument. It's a means of remembering his life in Syria. Radwan's passion for the oud has led him to amass more than 60 instruments - from dozens of the finest makers across the Middle East. It's one of the largest individual oud collections in the world. But he still can't stop thinking about the two ouds he left behind when his neighbourhood in Damascus was destroyed. (Originally broadcast January 2019)