Asmahan
Amal al-Atrasch ( Arabic آمال الأطرش, DMG Āmāl al-Aṭraš , French Amal el-Atrache ); (* November 25, 1917 or 1912 on the Mediterranean coast near Suweida , Vilâyet Syria ; † July 14, 1944 near al-Mansura in Egypt ), better known by its stage name Asmahan ( Arabic أسمهان, DMG Asmahān ), was a Syrian - Druze singer and actress.
Life
Asmahan came from the wealthy al-Atrasch family, was the sister of Farid el Atrache and was related to the Druze leader and Syrian nationalist revolutionary Sultan Pascha al-Atrasch . Already in her childhood she had to emigrate to Egypt because her homeland in al-Qrayya was bombed by the French before the Syrian Revolution .
Her family already knew the composer Dawood Hosni , and later Amal sang the compositions of Mohamed El Qasabgi and Zakariyya Ahmad . She also sang compositions by Mohammed Abdel Wahab and by her brother Farid. Asmahan became a rising star in her own right .
She owned the only female voice in Arabic music to seriously compete with that of Umm Kulthum , who - like Asmahan - is considered one of the most outstanding singers of the 20th century. Asmahan was considered a muṭribah , a singer who was able to conjure up the magic of the old style of Arabic music, ṭarab , as it was cultivated before the First World War, while at the same time she incorporated European singing techniques and thus found an independent musical expression.
Her mysterious death in a car accident shocked the public. Journalists spread gossip in the rainbow press about her tumultuous private life and an alleged role as a spy in World War II .
Filmography
- 1941: The triumph of youth (Intissar al-Shabab)
- 1944: Love and Retribution (Gharam wa Intiqam)
documentary
- Azza El-Hassan: Asmahan - Rushing Nights in Vienna ( Mischief Films , 2014, 71 min)
literature
- Muhammad al-Taba'i: Asmahan Tells Her Story . Dar al-Shorouk Press, 2008.
- Sherifa Zuhur: Images of Enchantment: Visual and Performing Arts of the Middle East . American University in Cairo Press, 1998, ISBN 977-424-467-2 .
- Sherifa Zuhur: Asmahan's Secrets: Woman, War, and Song . University of Texas Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-292-79807-6 .
- Sherifa Zuhur: Colors of Enchantment: Theater, Dance, Music and the Visual Arts of the Middle East . American University in Cairo Press, 2001, ISBN 977-424-607-1 .
Web links
- Asmahan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Introduction to Asmahan's Secrets , a biography ( ISBN 978-0-292-79807-6 )
Individual evidence
- ↑ "منزل الفنانة أسمهان بات متحفاً" ( memento of the original from January 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , al-Mada
- ↑ Lebanese Army Journal, Issue Number 241 ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 2005 (Arabic)
- ↑ Majid al-Atrash: Asmahan: Amirat at-tarab was-saif wan-nada (Asmahan: The princess of music, war and grace). al-'Adyat-Magazin, 2005, pp. 75-77 (Arabic)
- ↑ Zuhur, 2000, p 85
- ^ Prominent Egyptians - Egyptian Government State Information Service
- ↑ Ali Jihad Racy: Musical Aesthetics in Present-Day Cairo. In: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 26, No. 3, September 1982, pp. 391-406, here p. 393
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Asmahan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Atrasch, Amal |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Syrian singer, composer and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 25, 1917 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mediterranean coast , Vilayet Syria , Ottoman Empire |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 14, 1944 |
| Place of death | Al-Mansura , Egypt |