20th Century Notables
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Fairuz
Background information Birth name
Nouhad Haddad
Fairuz (Arabic: فيروز, also spelled Fairouz or Fayrouz) (born November 21, 1918) is a distinguished Lebanese singer. Born Nouhad Haddad (Arabic: نهاد حداد) in Jabal al Arz (Cedar Mountain), Fairuz is known as "Our (Lebanese) Ambassador to the Stars", "The Arabs' Ambassador", "Neighbour to the Moon", and "The Poet of the Voice". Contents • 1 Biography
• 3 Theatrical works • 4 Discography • 5 Television and film
o
5.1 Films
5.3.1 1971: Fairuz in America Biography 1935-1950s - The early years
Fairuz (Nouhad Haddad) with her mother Liza al-Boustani, crossing Martyr's Square in Beirut, 1945. Nouhad Haddad, later known as Fairuz, was born on 21 November 1935 in Jabal al Arz, Lebanon into a Maronite family.[1] The family later moved into a home in a cobblestone alley called Zuqaq el Blatt in Beirut. Living in a single room of a typical Lebanese stone house facing Beirut's Patriarchate school, they shared a kitchen with the neighbors. Her father, Wadi, worked as a typesetter in a nearby print shop[2] and Lisa, her mother, stayed home and took care of her four children, Nouhad, Youssef, Hoda and Amal. Nouhad was a shy child and did not have many friends at school. However, she was greatly attached to her grandmother who lived in Debbieh, a village in the mountains of Lebanon, where Nouhad used to spend the summer. Nouhad adored the simple village life. During the day, she helped her grandmother with house chores and fetched fresh water from a nearby water spring. She used to sing all the way to the spring and back. In the evening, Nouhad used to sit by the candle light with her grandmother who used to tell her stories from her voyage to the United States. Fairuz in 1946. By the age of ten, Nouhad was already well known at her school for her beautiful voice. She would regularly sing during school festivals and holidays. This is how she came to the attention of Mohammed Fleifel, a well known Lebanese musician and teacher at the Lebanese Conservatory, who happened to attend one of the school's celebrations in February 1950. He was greatly impressed by her voice and performance and advised her to enroll in the conservatory, which she did. At first, Nouhad's conservative father was reluctant to send his daughter to the conservatory; however, he allowed Nouhad to attend classes at the conservatory on one condition, that her brother accompany her. Nouhad's family encouraged her even though they could not afford much, and one day her father surprised her with a radio. Fleifel cared for Nouhad's voice in a fatherly way. Most importantly, he taught her verses recitation from the Quran (Recitative style known as Tajweed). One day, prominent Lebanese musician and head of the music department at the Lebanese Radio Station Halim El Roumi (the father of famous Lebanese singer Majida El Roumi) happened to hear Nouhad sing. He was deeply impressed by her voice and noticed that it had a rare flexibility that allowed her to sing both oriental and western modes admirably. At Nouhad's request, El Roumi appointed her as a chorus singer at the radio station in Beirut and composed several songs for her. He chose for her the name Fairuz, which is the Arabic word for turquoise. Fairuz and
Assi Rahbani on their wedding day A couple of months later, Fairuz was introduced to the Rahbani brothers, Assi and Mansour, who also worked at the radio station as musicians. The chemistry was instant, and soon after, Assi started to compose songs for Fairouz, one of which was 'Itab (the third song he composed for her), which was an immediate smash hit in all of the Arab world, establishing Fairuz as one of the most prominent Arab singers on the Arabic music scene. Assi and Fairuz were married on January the 23rd 1955, and Fairuz then converted to Greek Orthodoxy (Assi's sect). Fairuz had four children: Ziad, a musician and a composer, Layal (died in 1987 of a brain stroke), Hali (paralysed since early childhood after meningitis) and Rima, a photographer and film director. Fairuz's first large-scale concert took place in 1957 as part of the Baalbeck International Festival, sponsored by Lebanese president Camille Chamoun. Musical operettas and sold-out concerts followed for years, establishing Fairuz as Lebanon's most beloved singer, and as one of the Arab world's most popular singers. 1960s - The establishment of a new star Fairuz became the "First Lady of Lebanese singing" (Halim el Roumi) during the 1960s. At that period the Rahbani brothers had written and composed for her hundreds of famous songs, most of their operettas, and 3 motion pictures. In 1969, as popular as it was, Fairuz’s music was banned from radio stations in Lebanon for six months by order of the Lebanese government because she refused to sing at a private concert in the honor of the Algerian president Houari Boumédienne during his visit to Lebanon. Despite that, Fairuz's popularity soared even higher. Fairuz made it clear that she would not sing to any one individual, neither king nor president, but she would always sing to the people. 1970s - International fame and the Lebanese Civil War In 1971, Fairuz's fame became international after her major North American tour, which was received with much excitement by the Arab-American and American community and yielded very positive reviews of the concerts. During the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Fairuz never left Lebanon to live abroad and did not hold any concerts there with the exception of the stage performance of the operetta "Petra", which was performed in both the Western and Eastern parts of the then-divided Beirut in 1978. However, during that time period, Fairuz held many very successful and record-breaking concerts and tours in numerous countries around the world.[citation needed] She made her first European TV appearance on French TV in 24/05/1975, in a "Carpentier special show" called "Numero 1" dedicated to French star Mireille Mathieu. She sang one of her greatest hits "Habaytak Bil Saif" and was thanked and embraced after performing it by Mireille Mathieu. Following this TV appearance was her Olympia of 1979 making the news on French TV due to the major excitement this concert did in France especially in the Arab community living there. 1980s - A new production team After the artistic divorce between Fairouz and the Rahbani Brothers in 1979, Fairuz carried on with her son, composer Ziad Rahbani, his friend the lyricist Joseph Harb, and composer Philemon Wehbe. Together, they forged new albums that yielded tremendous success reinforcing Fairuz's image as the constantly evolving and most prominent Arab singer. This success was yet again prominent all over the world and Fairuz made yet again her second and final European Tv appearance on French TV on 13/10/1988 in a show called "Du côté de chez Fred". Fairuz who had a concert at French city "Bercy" on the 16th of October was the main guest of French TV presenter "Frédéric MITTERRAND". This show is considered to be a very rare and exciting TV archive showing the Lebanese Diva rehearsals for her concert at Bercy in addition to "Jack LANG" giving Fairuz the award "la médaille de Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres" and a video montage of her previous movies and concerts. In this show, Fairuz also sings the following 3 songs "Ya hourrié", "Yara" and "Zaali tawwal". 1990s-present In the 1990s, Fairuz produced six albums (two Philemon Wehbe tributes with unreleased tracks included, a Zaki Naseef album, three Ziad Rahbani albums, and a tribute album to Assi Rahbani orchestrated by Ziad) and held a number of large-scale concerts, most notably the historic concert held at Beirut's Martyr's Square in September, 1994 to launch the rebirth of the downtown district that was ravaged by the civil war. She appeared at The International Baalbeck Festival in 1998 after 25 years of absence where she performed the highlights of 3 very successful plays that were presented in the 1960s and 1970s. She also performed a concert at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Arena in 1999 which was attended by over 16,000 Lebanese spectators. Ever since, Fairuz has held sold out concerts at the Beiteddine International Festival (Lebanon) from 2000 to 2003, Paris (2002), the United States (2003), Amman (2004), Montreal (2005), Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Baalbeck, BIEL (2006), Athens, Amman (2007) Damascus, and Bahrain (2008). Fairuz now works exclusively with her composer son Ziad. Her latest album, Wala Keef, was released in 2002. Her 2008 performance in Damascus caused considerable controversy in Lebanon, given the tense relationship between Lebanon and Syria. Several members of parliament publicly asked her to cancel the concert. She went to Syria where she was received by a crowd of 7000 fans, screaming her name at the borders, as her car passed into Syrian grounds. Mosques and prayers on radio were all held back as Fairouz's songs played day and night through almost every media outlet in the Syrian nation. Radio channels, TV channels, the Syrian satellite broadcasters, restaurants and cafes, and newspapers were all focused on Fairouz's legendary return after 20 years absence. However big this controversy has gotten, it seems it has not affected her popularity in Lebanon as she held the Orthodox Good Friday Prayer Mass in West Beirut as hundreds and hundreds crowded the church premises. She is to hold another large concert in Syria in August 2008. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people will attend. Live concerts Fairuz has performed once or more in each of many countries around the globe including Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, France, The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Greece, Canada, The United States of America, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and of course, her very own Lebanon. Fairuz has performed in many venues such as the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1962, the New York Carnegie Hall in 1971, the London Palladium in 1978, L'Olympia de Paris in 1979, London's Royal Festival Hall in 1986, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles (1971, 1981, and 2003), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. (1981 and 1987) among many others (for the complete concert chronology, see Fairuz Concerts). Fairuz has yielded record-breaking performances in almost every concert she has held around the world. Fairuz, Assi, and Mansour have become the most famous and dominant music production phenomenon in the Arab world, and their music has spread beyond the Arab world to Europe, the Americas, and Australia. Of Fairuz's numerous concerts, few are officially released. They are the Damascus 1960, Olympia 1979 concert (audio and (video released in the 80's)), USA tour 1981, Jarash 1983, Royal Festival Hall London 1986, USA tour 1987, Baalbek 1998 (Video), Las Vegas 1999 concert (on DVD with make over and rehearsals), Beiteddine 2000 and Dubai 2001 (on DVD, it includes parts from concerts in 1997 and 2002 as well as rehearsals from 2001 and 2002 concerts, released May 2008). Pirated versions of other concerts exist: Kuwait 1966, Syria and Egypt 1976, Olympia 1979, Australia 1984, Syria 1985, Bahrain 1987, France 1988, Kuwait1989, Cairo 1989, London 1994, Beirut 1994, and parts of the four Beiteddine concerts (2000-2003), Parts of Dubai concerts (1990-2006), Paris 2002, Amman 2004, Canada 2005, parts of the play "Sah Ennawm" which was performed in Beirut (2006), Athens 2007 and Bahrain 2008. Theatrical works Musical plays or operettas were the cornerstone works of the Rahbani Trio, Fairuz, Assi and Mansour. The Rahbani Brothers produced 25 popular musical plays (20 with Feirouz) over a period of more than 30 years. They were possibly the first to produce world-class Arabic musical theatre. The musicals combined storyline, lyrics and dialogue, musical composition varying widely from Lebanese folkloric and rhythmic modes to classical, westernized, and oriental songs, orchestration, and the voice and acting of Feirouz. She played the lead roles alongside singers/actors Nasri Shamseddine, Wadih El Safi, Antoine Kerbaje, Elie Shouayri (Chouayri), Hoda (Fairouz's younger sister), William Haswani, Raja Badr, Siham Chammas (Shammas), Georgette Sayegh and many others. The Rahbani plays expressed patriotism, unrequited love and nostalgia for village life, comedy, drama, philosophy, and contemporary politics. The songs performed by Fairuz as part of the plays have become immensely popular among the Lebanese and Arabs around the world. The Fairouz-Rahbani collaboration produced the following musicals (in chronological order): •
"Ayyam al Hassad" ('Days of Envy' - 1957) Most of the musical plays were recorded and video-taped. Eighteen of them have been officially released on audio CD, two on DVD (Mais el Reem and Loulou). A pirated version of 'Petra' and one pirated live version of 'Mais el Reem' in black and white exist. 'Ayyam al Hassad' (Days of Harvest) was never recorded and 'Al 'Urs fi l’Qarya' (The Marriage in the Village) has not yet been released (yet a pirated audio record is available). Discography Fairouz possesses a large repertoire of around 1500 songs out of which nearly just 800 released. She has also been offered prestigious awards and titles over the years (check Fairouz Awards and Recognitions). Around 85 Fairouz CDs, vinyls and cassettes have been officially released so far. Most of the songs that are featured on these albums were composed by the Rahbani brothers. Also featured are songs by Philemon Wehbe, Ziad Rahbani, Zaki Nassif, Mohamed Abd El Wahab, Najib Hankash and Mohamed Mohsen. Many of Fairuz's numerous unreleased works date back to the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s and were composed by the Rahbani Brothers (certain unreleased songs, the oldest of all, are by Halim el Roumi). A Fairuz album composed by Egyptian musician Riad Al Sunbati (who has worked with Umm Kulthum) was produced in the 1980s and is yet to be released. It is also thought that there are fifteen unreleased songs composed by Philemon Wehbe. Television and film Films Fairouz and the Rahbanis have also had their share of movie production. They produced three films, •
"'Biyaa El Khawatem'" (The Ring Salesman) in 1965 (based on the
musical), The three films drew large audiences across the Arab world, world theatres, and further introduced Fairuz to the Arab and world audience. These films are released for sale. Television programmes Lebanese Television has featured appearances by Fairouz in the following television programs: •
"Al Iswara" (The Bracelet) Other television programmes have been recorded for the Syrian TV, though neither these nor the ones mentionned above are released for sale. Documentaries There are five documentaries about her life and work with the Rahbani Brothers:
1971: Fairuz in America
1998: Fairuz 1998: Alone They Remain Named after one of her most famous songs, Alone They Remain is a documentary that covers Fairouz’s rise to fame, the history of her voice and Baalbeck Festivals, Lebanon’s glorious days in the late 50’s, it’s prosperity in the 60’s and early 70’s, and the destruction that followed in the mid-70’s till 1990. It also encompasses the plays she and the Rahbanis produced. Produced by Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), it was released after her historical return to the Baalbeck Festivals. 1999: Arrab El Maw’ed (Time is Upon Us) Covered Fairouz’s historical performance at MGM’s Garden Arena. It offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the Lebanese legend while she and her entourage prepare for the grand event. Scenes include rehearsals, stage set up, a private reception to honor Feirouz, as well as her visits to local attractions. Directed by Rima Rahbani. 2003: We Loved Each Other So Much (We Hielden Zoveel Van Mekaar) Is a Dutch documentary that depicts the love of the inhabitants of Beirut for Fairouz and illustrates the postwar reconciliation between the different Lebanese parties through Fairouz. Directed by Jack Janssen. Quotes Numerous musicians, poets, scholars, critics and singers around the world were deeply impressed by the voice and performance of Fairuz. The admiration of several of them is expressed in the following quotes: • "To the Arab world Fairouz came suddenly, as a miracle. At a time when Arabic singing was weighed down with convention and predictability, and spirits were nationally at their lowest, her voice rang, as though from the beyond, the notes of salvation and joy. Arabic music has never been the same since. Nostalgic but vibrant, sad but defiant, folkloric and yet so new, hers has been for nearly 30 years perhaps the only voice that seems so capable of jubilation in an almost cosmic sense. By turns mystic and amorous, elegiac and fiery, her singing has expressed the whole emotional scale of Arab life with haunting intensity. Often singers give listeners pleasure, as they expect. She often gives them, beyond their expectation, ecstasy" Jabra Ibrahim Jabra • "The voice of Fairouz knows no boundaries and is enormously capable of rendering all singing styles. Her voice is soon going to be distinguished as the voice that is more capable of rendering modern music than any other around the world." (Fairuz's early mentor Halim El Roumi) • "In the songs of Fairuz we sense an art that is dedicated to the human being, to the pains of the human being, and to the hopes of people for an honorable and pleasant life." (Fouad Badawi) • "After Years of thirst, a voice like fresh water has arrived. A cloud, a love letter from another planet: Fairuz has overwhelmed us with ecstasy. Names and figures of speech remain too small to define her. She alone is our agency of goodwill to which those of us looking for love and poetry belong. When Fairouz sings, mountains and rivers follow her voice, the mosque and the church, the oil jars and loaves of bread. Through her, every one of us is made to blossom, and once we were no more than sand; men drop their weapons and apologize. Upon hearing her voice, our childhood is molded anew." (Prominent Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani) • "The glory does not only lie in the fact that I live in the age of Fairuz, but also that I belong to her people. I have no country but her voice, no family but her people and no sun but the moon of her chanting in my heart." (Prominent Lebanese journalist Ounsi el- Hajj) • "Quite simply, Fairuz is one of the world's nonpareil musicians and outstanding Artists, an international treasure of the order of Rostropovich, Sills, Ravi Shankar, Miles Davis, Sutherland, Pavarotti and Dylan." (Harvard University scholar Barry Hoberman)[1] • "The voice of Fairouz is the single most beautiful voice I have ever heard. In her voice the Orient and the West meet and mix." (Hungarian Opera Singer Anna Korsek)
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