Mahieddine Bachtarzi (15 December 18976 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.

Early life

Mahieddine Bachtarzi was born on 15 December 1897 in the

Casbah of Algiers The Casbah of Algiers, commonly referred to as the Casbah (Arabic: القصبة, Al-qaṣabah, meaning "citadel"), corresponds to the old town or Medina quarter, medina of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is a historic district that has been l ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

into a wealthy family.. Attending

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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

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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.

Career

In 1925, he had been acclaimed by the French press as the

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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

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with spoken

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, 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.

Death and legacy

Bachtarzi died on 6 February 1986. The Mahieddine Bachtazi Theatre, formerly known as the Algiers Opera House, was renamed in his memory.

References

Bibliography

* *. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bachtarzi, Mahieddine 1897 births 1986 deaths Algerian people of Turkish descent Algerian opera singers Algerian male stage actors 20th-century Algerian male singers 20th-century Algerian male actors People from Casbah 20th-century male opera singers