Fairouz
Her original name is Nouhad Haddad. She was born on November
21st, 1935 in a small house in 'zoukak el blatt' in Beirut. Her mother was
a housewife and her father worked in a printing press. She was the oldest
of her siblings, Yousef, Houda and Amal. Nouhad came from a relatively
low-income family and lived in a one room-house with a kitchen shared by
neighbors. She was a very shy child and did not have many friends at
school. Instead, she was attached to her grandmother who lived in
'debbieh' village.
Since she was ten, Nouhad became well known in school for her
beautiful voice, so she would sing at festivals and eids. One time,
Mohammed Flaifel and his brother, well known Lebanese musicians, happened
to be attending one of the festivals at her school. After hearing her
sing, they negotiated with her father to have her come and study music.
Therefore, in December of 1946, Nouhad became a student in Flaifel's class
in the Conservatoire (The National Music Institute) where she learned for
four years theories of oriental and western music and how to sing and
chant. Her parents encouraged her. Even though they couldn't afford much,
one day her father surprised her with a radio [not sure if this is the
right word in English??? not a boom-box since it had no tapes].
After graduation, she started her first job as a choir singer in
the Lebanese Broadcasting Radio Station (al-iza'a al Loubnaniah). There
she met Assi Rahbani and they worked together. In 1954, at nineteen years
of age, Nouhad married Assi. Soon thereafter, the Rahbani brothers, Assi,
Mansour, and Ellias formulated their company and began composing music for
Fairouz (as Nouhad now came to be known). Her first official appearance
was in 1957 in Damascus and as they say the rest became history in terms of
her music career. The Rahbanis were mostly famous for their musical
dialogues which they used in the many musical plays they wrote and
directed. some focused on historical events and others on love and
simplicity in the Lebanese countryside: 'Petra', 'Loulou', 'Al-mahata' (The
Station), 'Mayess el-Reem', 'Hala wa al-Malek' (Hala and the King),
'Al-shakhiss' (The Person), 'Jebal al Siwan' (Siwan Mountains), and many
more. They also had their share of movie production which included 'Safar
Barlek' and Biya'h al-Khawatem' (The Ring Peddler). Fairouz performed in
most countries around the world and was known for her songs about Arab
nationalism and love and peace.
On the personal side, Fairouz had many struggles throughout her
life. She gave birth to Ziad, then Hilli, Lial and finally Rima. Hilli
became sick soon after his birth and became paralyzed for the rest of his
life. She still take care of him to this day. During that same time, her
mother got sick and died. All these events left a great impact on her.
Many believe that the song 'bikoukhna ya bni' (lyrics by Michel Trad) talks
about her son.
Some of the other obstacles that Nouhad had to face were her
husband and his company. Assi and his brother interfered with every thing.
They monitored Fairouz' every single move on and off stage. They first
did not want her to act on television because they felt that people would
not like her face up close. They also did not agree for her to work with
other important musicians such as Mohamad Abd el Wahab. While traveling
for a performance, she was not allowed to go out with the team, but had to
stay in the hotel room to prevent illness. She was not allowed to talk
with reporters unless questions were scrutinized and answers were prepared
earlier. She knew nothing of the financial situation and never had money
of her own. It is also said that Assi gambled and entertained other women.
When she decided that she wants to have plastic surgery for her
nose, Assi thought the idea was unacceptable. As she insisted and finally
had the operation, she felt stronger and that she could change things about
her life. Ounsi el Hajj, a famous Lebanese poet and a good friend, wrote
about her in the newspaper encouraging her to take control of her life and
explaining the importance of financial independence for a women's liberty.
At this time, Ziad (15 years old) and Layal both left the home at a very
early age because they were unhappy with the situation. She finally got
the courage to leave Assi and they soon got divorced.
Now she realized that there are many musicians whom she could
work with including her son Ziad. She produced three cds with Ziad
('keifak inta' 1991, 'mish kayen hayek tkoun' 1999, and 'Ila Assi' 1995)
which were very controversial. People were not in general very willing to
accept another image of Fairouz that Ziad and Fairouz wanted to create.
They were too accustomed to the angelic, goddess-like, aloof image that
Assi and his brothers created. Fairouz once said in an interview that she
had oppressed her smile in the past because she was put in the cage of
formalities, but that she will always smile (we actually hear her smile in
'keifak inta' CD). She also produced another CD with Zaki Nassif (Fairouz
sings Zaki Nassif, 1994) and another of works with Filmoun Wehbi ('ya
rayeh', 1994). Fairouz said about Filmoun Wehbi "those you left behind
have missed you, and all those who are still coming are going to love you".
During the war, Fairouz never left Lebanon and decided to stop singing
because it pained her to see the Lebanese killing each other. She has held
a number of concert recitals in the past couple of years including one in
Baalbek (1998) and another in Las Vegas (1999). Some of her most excellent
CDs include 'Fairouz Qased', 'al Quds (Jerusalem) fil el bal', 'Fairouz
ma'akoum', 'Raj'oun', 'Qassidat Houb', 'Bi Layl wa Chiti', 'Christmas
Carols', and 'Andalusiyat'.
This is what others have said about Fairouz:
"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 (Syrian Author).
"Fairouz' song is one of the names of our emotional identity.
It is one of our letters to salvation and to the angels. What would the
poetry of our lives be had Fairouz not been the song of our live, capable
of disrupting our lives with more Julnar flowers?
It is the song that always forgets to get old,
it makes the desert smaller and the moon larger"
Mahmoud Darwish (Palestinian Poet) [My translation].
"After Years of thirst, a voice like fresh water has arrived. A cloud, a
love-letter from another planet: Fairouz 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, it is our childhood
which being molded anew" Nizar Qabbani (Syrian Poet).
"The glory does not only lie in the fact that I live in the age of Fairouz,
but also that I belong to her people.
I have no country but her voice, no family but her people and no sun but he
moon of her chanting in my heart" Ounsi el- Hajj (Lebanese Poet) [my
translation].