WARDA AL-JAZAIRIA

Warda Ftouki, better known as Warda or Ouarda . and nicknamed Warda al-Jazairia ("The Algerian Rose"), is an Algerian chanteus, born July 22, 1939 in Paris and died May 17, 2012   Warda El Djazairia. Warda makes his debut in Paris.  After the outbreak of the Algerian war, his career continued in Lebanon and  Egypt.  She married an Algerian officer after independence and interrupted his career until 1972. After his divorce she moved to Egypt and married the composer Baligh Hamdi.  Warda then works with the greatest Arab composers. Known for her sentimental songs, she also plays patriotic songs.  His repertoire has more than 300 songs.  After selling tens of millions of albums, she is considered a "diva" of the Arabic song. Warda Ftouki was born in Paris of an Algerian father, Mohammed Ftouki, a native of Souk Ahras, and a Lebanese mother .  She is the youngest of their five children . Warda began singing in the 1950s. She made her debut at Tam-Tam, a cabaret owned by her father.  Located rue Saint-Séverin, in the Latin Quarter, it hosts many stars of the Arabic song, as Safia Chamia and Farid El Atrache . The beginnings At the age of 11, Warda sings in the program of host Ahmed Hachlaf broadcast on Paris Inter .  She records her first dice for Pathé-Marconi.  In 1956, after the outbreak of the Algerian war, weapons intended for the FLN were discovered by the police in his father's cabaret.  The establishment is closed and the family evicted.  His mother dies before they arrive in Hamra, a district of the Lebanese capital famous for its nightlife Warda sings in the cabarets of Beirut.  In 1959, at a casino in Aley, she met the composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab, who taught him classical singing and adapted to his intention Bi-omri kullo habbitak, qassida of the poet Ahmed Chawqi . Gamal Abdel Nasser proposes to interpret Al watan al akbar (ar), a song by Mohammed Abdel Wahab written for a pan-Arab opera .  Warda records it alongside other singers like Abdel Halim Hafez and Fayza Ahmed .  Egyptian director of musicals Helmi Rafla makes him sign a contract, and the singer pursues a musical and cinematographic career in Egypt .  It appears in two of Rafla's films, Almaz wa 'Abdu al-Hâmoulî and Amîrat al-'arab . Career break Warda's father died in 1961 .  After independence, she goes to Algeria for the first time and marries an officer, who forbids her to sing.  Warda abandons the music for a decade to raise their daughter Widad and their son Riyad , which is named after the composer Riadh Sombati . Back to the song In 1972, at the request of President Houari Boumediene, she took part in the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the independence of the country by performing in Algiers with an Egyptian orchestra .  Warda decides to resume her career, she and her husband divorce by mutual consent ,  She returns permanently to Egypt where she marries the composer Baligh Hamdi.  The singer enjoys great popularity and has the opportunity to work with the greatest Arab composers, such as Hilmi Bakr, Riadh Sombati, Sadok Thraya, Mohammed Abdel Wahab . Mohammed Al-Mougui or Sayed Mekawi  . President Anwar Sadat forbade him to perform in the country because of a song in his repertoire, El Ghala Yenzad, praising Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.  The ban is lifted thanks to the intervention of his wife Jihane el-Sadate.  In 1979, Warda returned to France to give a recital to the Olympia In 1990, Warda divorced her second husband, who died in Paris three years later.  His career is eclipsed as new musical styles emerge.  The singer returns to the foreground by performing songs by composer Salah Charnoubi, such as Haramt Ahibek, Betwenes Bik and Ya khsara .  She then experiences health problems that keep her off the stage.  In 1996, she underwent heart surgery , followed by a liver transplant in the early 2000s .  In 1999, the compilation Nagham el hawaretrace his career  His last studio album was recorded in 2001 Warda returns to Lebanon in the 2000s to perform at the Baalbek International Festival.  She sings in 2005, then in 2008, and attracts nearly 3,000 spectators ,  The same year, she went to Algeria and gave concerts in Djemila, on the occasion of the 4th international festival, and the theater of the Casif de Sidi-Fredj . In 2009, Warda participated in the inauguration party of the 2nd Pan-African Festival of Algiers .  She also performs in Morocco, during the 8th edition of the Mawazine festival, where she sings in front of 30,000 people .  One of his last concerts took place in Lebanon in September 2011 .  Warda dies on May 17, 2012 in Cairo, where she resides, following a cardiac arrest that occurred during her sleep .  Her body is repatriated to Algiers and the singer is buried on May 19 in the "square of martyrs" of the El-Alia cemetery . After his death The video of the song Eyyam, directed by Mounes Khammar, was presented to the press in May 2013. The shooting of the video was interrupted by the death of the artist.  The sequences featuring the missing singer are made through an animation process, rotoscopy.  The song of the composer Bilal Zain and the lyricist Mounir Bou Assaf, sung in Lebanese dialect, was recorded in 2009.