OUM KATLHUM – OUM KALTHUM – UMM KULTHUM, 1st part
OUM KALTHUM AND MOHAMED ABD EL WAHAB
A dramatic high point in the production of new love song was collaboration with Mohamed Abd-el Wahab. He began his career in musical theater in 1917 and became highly regarded as singer and composer. They became aquainted during 1920´s. Abd el Wahab starred in a number of successful films during the 1930´s and 1940´s, for which he also wrote music. He was viewed as prestigious and innovative composer. His speciality was to combine wide variety of styles, mixture between Arab and Western music.
The two artists different artistic objectives discouraged collaboration. Abd el Wahab was interested in modern music, experimenting with other styles and influenced by West, while Oum Klathum wanted to work with old arab music roots. From time to time the two were in direct competition. Both ran for president of Musicians Union in 1940´s and early 1950´s.
It is believed that egyptian president Abd el Nasir was very important in the connection of the two artist, that he alone cherished so much. In 1960 both of them received Order of Merit by Egyptian governement. Slowly Abd el Naser and other mutual friends of the artists persusaded both of them to colaborate together. Agreement was formaly reached when Oum Kalthum and Abd el Wahab were performing together for a concert in honor of Egyptian National Day.
Their first success was Enta omri (You are my life), premiered in 1964. The song quickly became one of her most popular and famous songs. Nine more songs followed. All of the songs they did together were acompanied by huge press coverage. Not only in trade publication and fan magazines but also in the daily newspaper.
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OUM KATLHUM AND HER CHILDHOOD
She was born in a small Egyptian village called Tammay al Zaharya, by the Nile Delta. The date of her birth is still a matter of discussion, but her English language biographer, Virginia Danielson, says her date of birth was the 4th of May 1904.
Her father was an imam at the local mosque, her mother was a housekeeper. She was raised in a very religious family where she learned suras from the Koran, ever since she was a child. Her father noticed that she was talented and enrolled her into the school of Koran at the age of 5. Her father was also a sheikh, a singer of religious songs at local mulids and festivals. While practicing those songs at home, he discovered that his daughter not only remembered the lyrics, but had a strong voice, too. She learned from her father by repeating after him, without understanding the words. Her father started teaching her to sing and soon she began performing with him. The audience was always amazed to hear this young girl singing with such a strong voice. They got more and more work, as people heard of the wonder child. Her father was concerned for her reputation, as she was a woman, so he dressed her up as a boy, whenever they went to perform. Also, there were family members and relatives who accompanied her to every performance she had.
Between 1910 and 1920, her father began to take on the role of her manager and the family’s economic situation soon improved.
Between 1920 and 1922, she began to perform in Cairo, and from 1922 onwards, she become a real star.
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KHAIRIYA MAZIN, October 2017, boat from Luxor to Esna
Please tell us how a ghawazee learns to dance and when? How did you and your sisters start?
The knowledge in our familly is transmitted from generation to generation. My older aunts taught my oldest sister, Su´ad Mazin. And then, our sister Su´ad taught the remaining 5 of us how to dance.
In which time of your life did you decide to continue with the family tradition of dancing, for it to be your profession?
I started dancing at 14 years of age just for fun, but I used to accompany my sister on her performances, so I danced all the time. The firts time I earned money from dancing was, when I was 20 years of age.
Who were your major clinets during the time of Banat Mazin? For whom did you perform the most?
We were mainly performing at different kinds of family celebrations, in the countryside. Also the people from the countryside paid us very good money for our performances.
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