Mahieddine Bachtarzi (15 December 1897 â€" 6 February 1986) was an
Algerian singer of opera (tenor), actor, writer and director of the
TNA (Théâtre National Algérien). He was also the author of some 400
musical works, with a career that spanned over 70 years, gaining many
honors throughout his life.Mahieddine Bachtarzi was born on 15
December 1897 in the Casbah of Algiers, Algeria into a wealthy family
of Turkish origin. Attending Islamic studies at the Medersa Ben Osman
Sheikh, at the age of fifteen he was entrusted, due to the exceptional
quality of his voice, as a reciter of the Qur'an at the Great Mosque
of Algiers. However, preferring the limelight to the austerity of the
prayer hall, he quickly abandoned the mosque to focus exclusively on
singing.In 1925, he had been acclaimed by the French press as the
North Africa equivalent of Caruso, and in 1926 he inaugurated the new
Paris Mosque with the first call to prayer. By the early 1930s he had
established his own musical troupe that specialized in mixing North
African music with popular theatre. Blending French with spoken
Arabic, his songs had explicit political overtones which led one
collection to be banned in 1937 for anti-French sentiment.For decades
he occupied the center stage of various artistic events in which he
participated in the field of singing, music and theater performances,
interpreters, material conditions (rooms, decorating and staging) and
organizing provincial tours and abroad.
Algerian singer of opera (tenor), actor, writer and director of the
TNA (Théâtre National Algérien). He was also the author of some 400
musical works, with a career that spanned over 70 years, gaining many
honors throughout his life.Mahieddine Bachtarzi was born on 15
December 1897 in the Casbah of Algiers, Algeria into a wealthy family
of Turkish origin. Attending Islamic studies at the Medersa Ben Osman
Sheikh, at the age of fifteen he was entrusted, due to the exceptional
quality of his voice, as a reciter of the Qur'an at the Great Mosque
of Algiers. However, preferring the limelight to the austerity of the
prayer hall, he quickly abandoned the mosque to focus exclusively on
singing.In 1925, he had been acclaimed by the French press as the
North Africa equivalent of Caruso, and in 1926 he inaugurated the new
Paris Mosque with the first call to prayer. By the early 1930s he had
established his own musical troupe that specialized in mixing North
African music with popular theatre. Blending French with spoken
Arabic, his songs had explicit political overtones which led one
collection to be banned in 1937 for anti-French sentiment.For decades
he occupied the center stage of various artistic events in which he
participated in the field of singing, music and theater performances,
interpreters, material conditions (rooms, decorating and staging) and
organizing provincial tours and abroad.
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